United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States consisting of two chambers, the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the Capitol in Washington, D. C, both senators and representatives are chosen through direct election, though vacancies in the Senate may be filled by a gubernatorial appointment. Members are usually affiliated to the Republican Party or to the Democratic Party, Congress has 535 voting members,435 Representatives and 100 Senators. The House of Representatives has six non-voting members in addition to its 435 voting members and these members can, sit on congressional committees and introduce legislation. Puerto Rico, American Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands, the members of the House of Representatives serve two-year terms representing the people of a single constituency, known as a district. Congressional districts are apportioned to states by using the United States Census results. Each state, regardless of population or size, has two senators, there are 100 senators representing the 50 states.
Each senator is elected at-large in their state for a term, with terms staggered. The House and Senate are equal partners in the legislative process—legislation cannot be enacted without the consent of both chambers, the Constitution grants each chamber some unique powers. The Senate ratifies treaties and approves presidential appointments while the House initiates revenue-raising bills, the House initiates impeachment cases, while the Senate decides impeachment cases. A two-thirds vote of the Senate is required before a person can be forcibly removed from office. The term Congress can refer to a meeting of the legislature. A Congress covers two years, the current one, the 115th Congress, began on January 3,2017, the Congress starts and ends on the third day of January of every odd-numbered year. Members of the Senate are referred to as senators, members of the House of Representatives are referred to as representatives, congressmen, or congresswomen. One analyst argues that it is not a solely reactive institution but has played a role in shaping government policy and is extraordinarily sensitive to public pressure.
Several academics described Congress, Congress reflects us in all our strengths, Congress is the governments most representative body. Congress is essentially charged with reconciling our many points of view on the public policy issues of the day. —Smith and Wielen Congress is constantly changing and is constantly in flux, most incumbents seek re-election, and their historical likelihood of winning subsequent elections exceeds 90 percent
2nd Cavalry Regiment (United States)
The 2nd Cavalry Regiment, known as the 2nd Dragoons, is an active Stryker infantry and cavalry regiment of the United States Army. The Second Dragoons was a component of VII Corps until September 2013 and it can trace its lineage back to the early part of the 19th century. In addition to its two current names, former names are 2nd Riflemen, 2nd Dragoons, 2nd Constabulary Regiment, 2nd Armored Cavalry, Toujours Prêt Always Ready – Remember Your Regiment and follow your officers. The fleur-de-lis on the badge commemorates the service in France during World War I. The palmetto leaf symbolizes the campaign against the Seminole Indians, the eight-pointed shield represents the original badge of a dragoon as does the color. In 1808, there was one regiment of dragoons and during the War of 1812 another regiment was raised. Units of both regiments of dragoons served in engagements at the Mississineway River, the Battle of Lundys Lane, Fort Erie and these two regiments were consolidated on 30 March 1814 into the Regiment of Light Dragoons but this new unit was dissolved on 15 June 1815.
The precursor organization was established by President Andrew Jackson on 23 May 1836. D Company was organized from a detachment of the 1st Dragoons, the 2nd Dragoons saw their first combat during the Second Seminole War. Company D drew first blood on 10 June 1836 in an engagement at Welika Pond, close to Fort Defiance, in December 1836, A, B, C, E, and I Companies arrived in South Carolina, and immediately moved south. In January 1837, the troopers were engaged by the Seminoles at Fort Mellon only two days after their arrival, on 9 September 1837, three Dragoon companies and two companies of Florida militia surrounded and attacked a hostile village, capturing King Philip, an important chief. This act was repealed on 4 April 1844 and the regiment reverted to its previous designation, in October 1842, A, D, E, F, and G Companies moved to Fort Jessup and Fort Towson. The remainder of the regiment stayed in Florida to patrol for hostile bands of Seminoles, Fort Jessup became the regimental headquarters, and was the 2nd Dragoons home for four years.
They soon established Fort Texas, near modern-day Brownsville, the regiment conducted aggressive patrolling along the Rio Grande, and on 25 April 1846, they received word that Mexican troops were crossing the river. Two companies of the 2nd Dragoons were ambushed by 500-1,600 Mexican troops and this battle, known as the Thornton Affair, gave US President Polk the casus belli he needed to invade Mexico. When General Taylor counterattacked, the 2nd Dragoons forced the enemy to turn their flank during the Battle of Palo Alto, the next day, during the Battle of Resaca de la Palma on 9 May 1846, Companies D and E under CPT Charles A. May were ordered to eliminate a battery of Mexican guns, prior to the charge, May issued a simple order, Remember your Regiment and follow your officers. This became the 2nd Dragoon Regiments motto, the attack destroyed the enemy battery and captured a Mexican general
Fort Winnebago
It was the middle one of three fortifications along the Fox-Wisconsin Waterway that included Fort Howard in Green Bay and Fort Crawford in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin. Fort Winnebago was constructed in 1828 as part of an effort to maintain peace between settlers and the regions Native American tribes following the Winnebago War of 1827. Fort Winnebagos location near the portage allowed it to transportation between the lakes and the Mississippi. With the exception of the participation of troops from the fort in the 1832 Black Hawk War, the garrison, which from 1829 to 1831 included Lt. In 1845, the absence of any threat to peace in the region prompted the abandonment of the fort. Nine years the site was sold into private hands, all that remain intact are the forts surgeons and officers quarters. The museums grounds include Garrison School, a one-room schoolhouse used from 1850-1960, the Fort Winnebago Old Indian Agency House, is the only known Indian Agency still located on its original location.
Known as the Historic Indian Agency House, it is a structure associated with the fort. It was erected in 1832 by the U. S. Government as a residence and office for Indian sub-Agent John Kinzie and it has been operated as a museum since 1932 by The National Society of the Colonial Dames of America in the State of Wisconsin. The Historic Indian Agency House is listed as nationally significant on the Register of Historic Places and is open to the public for visitation May 15 through October 15 each year. Fort Winnebago Historical Site Fort Winnebago Surgeons Quarters - Wisconsin Society Daughters of the American Revolution Historic Indian Agency House Historic American Landscapes Survey No. WI-4-A, Fort Winnebago Cemetery, Soldiers Lot, Highway EE, Columbia County, WI,15 photos,2 photo caption pages
Battle of Churubusco
The Battle of Churubusco took place on August 20,1847, while Santa Annas army was in retreat from the Battle of Contreras, Mexican–American War. After defeating the Mexican army at Churubusco, the U. S. Army was only 5 miles away from Mexico City, following their defeats at Contreras Santa Anna ordered Major General Nicolás Bravo with the Army of the Center to retreat from San Antonio to Churubusco. Scott sent David Twiggs and Gideon Johnson Pillows divisions from San Angel to Coyoacán, during retreat from San Antonio, the Mexican defenders, were struck in flank by Clarkes Brigade. Garland moved forward as the Mexicans withdrew from San Antonio and captured a general, scott ordered an attack on the convent. In addition to the walls of the convent, the defenses included a series of incomplete trenches the Mexicans had begun digging prior to the attack. Some elements of the Tlapa and Lagos Battalions arrived as reinforcements, three cannon were placed on the right, two in the center, and the remaining two on the left.
Independencia was assigned to defend the walls, the right flank leading to the bridge, the unfortified south and north sides. The Bravos and the San Patricios were stationed on the left, in support along the Rio Churubusco was the Perez Brigade,2,500 men Worths division took on the tete-de-pont, while Twiggs the convent. Rincons gunners were able to force Taylors battery to withdraw, the attack by Franklin Pierce and James Shields, crossing the river on the Coyoacan-Mixcoac road in an attempt to cut off the Mexican retreat, was stopped. However, Worth turned the Mexican left and crossed the river, capt. Duncan set up a battery to attack the convent. Two of the Mexican cannons had melted and a third had fallen from its mount, lieutenant Colonel Francisco Peñúñuri of Independencia led a handful of men in a bayonet charge and was defeated. He and Captain Luis Martínez de Castro, who had accompanied him, were killed in the battle, officers from the Bravos attempted to raise the white flag over the convent walls on three occasions.
Captain James Milton Smith finally stopped the fighting by putting up a white handkerchief, the Americans captured 192 prisoners and 3 pieces of artillery at the tete de pont. They captured 1,259 prisoners, including 3 generals and the San Patricios leader Lt. Col. Francisco Rosenda Moreno and they captured another 380 prisoners further up the road. Scott did not continue the pursuit into Mexico City. willing to leave something to this republic. I halted our victorious corps at the gates of the city, a brigade of volunteers from New York was billeted to the convent, remaining there until September 7. Parts of the battle were portrayed in the mini-series North and South, saint Patricks Battalion Balbontin, Manuel Recuerdos de la invasion norte-americana, 1846-1848. Annual Reports 1894, War Department lists trophy guns as, 1-16 pounder bronze, 4-8 pounders, 4-6 pounders, - Mexico War, Center for Greater Southwestern Studies, the University of Texas at Arlington
War of 1812
Historians in the United States and Canada see it as a war in its own right, but the British often see it as a minor theatre of the Napoleonic Wars. By the wars end in early 1815, the key issues had been resolved, the view was shared in much of New England and for that reason the war was widely referred to there as Mr. Madison’s War. As a result, the primary British war goal was to defend their North American colonies, the war was fought in three theatres. Second and naval battles were fought on the U. S. –Canadian frontier, large-scale battles were fought in the Southern United States and Gulf Coast. With the majority of its land and naval forces tied down in Europe fighting the Napoleonic Wars, early victories over poorly-led U. S. armies demonstrated that the conquest of the Canadas would prove more difficult than anticipated. Despite this, the U. S. was able to inflict serious defeats on Britains Native American allies, both governments were eager for a return to normality and peace negotiations began in Ghent in August 1814.
This brought an Era of Good Feelings in which partisan animosity nearly vanished in the face of strengthened American nationalism, the war was a major turning point in the development of the U. S. military, with militia being increasingly replaced by a more professional force. The U. S. acquired permanent ownership of Spains Mobile District, the government of Canada declared a three-year commemoration of the War of 1812 in 2012, intended to offer historical lessons and celebrate 200 years of peace across the border. At the conclusion of the commemorations in 2014, a new national War of 1812 Monument was unveiled in Ottawa. The war is remembered in Britain primarily as a footnote in the much larger Napoleonic Wars occurring in Europe, historians have long debated the relative weight of the multiple reasons underlying the origins of the War of 1812. This section summarizes several contributing factors which resulted in the declaration of war by the United States, as Risjord notes, a powerful motivation for the Americans was the desire to uphold national honour in the face of what they considered to be British insults such as the Chesapeake–Leopard Affair.
The approaching conflict was about violations of American rights, but it was vindication of American identity. Americans at the time and historians since often called it the United States Second War of Independence, in 1807, Britain introduced a series of trade restrictions via a series of Orders in Council to impede neutral trade with France, with which Britain was at war. The United States contested these restrictions as illegal under international law, the American merchant marine had come close to doubling between 1802 and 1810, making it by far the largest neutral fleet. Britain was the largest trading partner, receiving 80% of U. S. cotton, the British public and press were resentful of the growing mercantile and commercial competition. The United States view was that Britains restrictions violated its right to trade with others, during the Napoleonic Wars, the Royal Navy expanded to 176 ships of the line and 600 ships overall, requiring 140,000 sailors to man. The United States believed that British deserters had a right to become U. S.
citizens and this meant that in addition to recovering naval deserters, it considered any United States citizens who were born British liable for impressment. Aggravating the situation was the reluctance of the United States to issue formal naturalization papers and it was estimated by the Admiralty that there were 11,000 naturalized sailors on United States ships in 1805
American Civil War
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, 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
Winfield Scott
Winfield Scott was a United States Army general and unsuccessful presidential candidate of the Whig Party in 1852. He served as Commanding General of the United States Army for twenty years, a national hero after the Mexican–American War, he served as military governor of Mexico City. Such was his stature that, in 1852, the Whig Party passed over its own incumbent President of the United States, Millard Fillmore, at six feet five inches in height, he remains the tallest man ever nominated by a major party. He was educated by tutors and in the schools, and briefly attended the College of William. He studied law in the office of attorney David Robinson, Scott attained admission to the bar, and made a brief attempt to practice law. He gained his military experience as a corporal of cavalry in the Virginia militia near Petersburg in 1807. He was subsequently commissioned as a captain in the Light Artillery in May 1808, Scotts early career in the army was tumultuous. Scotts commission was suspended for one year, and after returning to duty, Scott earned the nickname Old Fuss and Feathers for his insistence on military bearing, courtesy and discipline.
In his own campaigns after reaching high rank, Scott preferred to use a core of Army regulars augmented by volunteers whenever possible, Scott perennially concerned himself with the welfare of his men, as demonstrated by his quarrel with Wilkinson over the New Orleans bivouac site. In another instance, when cholera broke out at a post under his command, the army promoted Scott to lieutenant colonel of the 2nd Artillery Regiment in July 1812. Scott served primarily on the Niagara Campaign front in the War of 1812 and he took command of an American landing party during the Battle of Queenston Heights on October 13,1812. The British held Scott as a prisoner of war, the British considered Irish-American prisoners of war British subjects and traitors and executed 13 such Americans captured at Queenstown Heights. The British paroled and released Scott in a prisoner exchange, upon release, Scott returned to Washington to pressure the Senate to take punitive action against British prisoners of war in retaliation for the British executions of Irish-American soldiers.
The Senate wrote a bill after this urging, but President James Madison believed the execution of prisoners of war unworthy of civilized nations. Scott was promoted to colonel in March 1813, Scott planned and led the capture of Fort George, Upper Canada, on the Niagara River. By crossing the Niagara and landing on the Lake Ontario shore, Colonel Scott was wounded in this battle, which is considered among the best-planned and best-executed U. S. operations of the war. Scott was promoted to general on March 19,1814. He was only 27 years old at the time, one of the youngest generals in the history of the U. S. Army, Scott commanded the 1st Brigade, and was instrumental in the American success at the Battle of Chippawa on July 5,1814
Twiggs County, Georgia
Twiggs County is a county located in the U. S. state of Georgia. As of the 2010 census, the population was 9,023, the county was created on December 14,1809 and named for American Revolutionary War general John Twiggs. Twiggs County is included in the Macon, GA Metropolitan Statistical Area, the Twiggs County Courthouse is located in Jeffersonville. According to the U. S. Census Bureau, the county has an area of 363 square miles. The geographical center of Georgia lies in Twiggs County, the southwestern and central portion of Twiggs County, south of Dry Branch and west of Jeffersonville, is located in the Lower Ocmulgee River sub-basin of the Altamaha River basin. A narrow northwestern portion of the county, from just north to southwest of Dry Branch, is located in the Upper Ocmulgee River sub-basin of the Altamaha River basin, the population density was 29 people per square mile. There were 4,291 housing units at a density of 12 per square mile. 1. 06% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race,22. 30% of all households were made up of individuals and 8. 70% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
The average household size was 2.73 and the family size was 3.20. In the county, the population was out with 27. 00% under the age of 18,9. 40% from 18 to 24,29. 00% from 25 to 44,23. 30% from 45 to 64. The median age was 35 years, for every 100 females there were 91.80 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.60 males, the median income for a household in the county was $31,608, and the median income for a family was $38,715. Males had an income of $31,141 versus $22,057 for females. The per capita income for the county was $14,259, about 15. 50% of families and 19. 70% of the population were below the poverty line, including 25. 20% of those under age 18 and 25. 80% of those age 65 or over. As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 9,023 people,3,634 households, the population density was 25.2 inhabitants per square mile. There were 4,235 housing units at a density of 11.8 per square mile. The racial makeup of the county was 56. 8% white,41. 3% black or African American,0.
3% American Indian,0. 2% Asian,0. 3% from other races, and 1. 1% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 1. 4% of the population, in terms of ancestry,11. 1% were American, and 8. 4% were English
Battle of Palo Alto
The Battle of Palo Alto was the first major battle of the Mexican–American War and was fought on May 8,1846, on disputed ground five miles from the modern-day city of Brownsville, Texas. On April 30, following the Thornton Affair, Mexican General Mariano Aristas troops began to cross the Rio Grande, on May 3, the troops began to besiege the American outpost at Fort Texas. Taylor marched his Army of Occupation south to relieve the siege, upon learning of his approach, diverted many of his units away from the siege to meet Taylors force. The battle took place on May 8, three days before the declaration of war on Mexico by the United States. Arista ordered two cavalry charges, first against the American right flank and against the left, the American victory is widely attributed to superior artillery. The U. S. light artillery was more mobile. That evening, Arista was forced to further south. The armies would clash again the day at the Battle of Resaca de la Palma. On April 30, following the Thornton Affair, Arista started crossing the Rio Grande at Longoreno with his army, first with General Pedro de Ampudias 1st Brigade.
Taylor prepared Fort Texas to withstand a siege while he moved most of his forces to protect his supply base at Fort Polk. Fort Texas was garrisoned by Taylor with 500 men under Major Jacob Brown, including the 7th Infantry, Capt. Allen Lowds four 18-pounders, Taylor started his return to Fort Texas on May 7 with 2,228 men plus his 200-wagon supply train. General Arista immediately left his camp at the Tanques del Ramireno with his army with the intention of blocking Taylor, Ampudias brigade left the Fort Texas siege to join him. Taylors scouts sighted the Mexican force at noon on the 8th, behind this line was Col. Cayetano Monteros light cavalry. Mays dragoon squadron guarded the flank and Capt. Croghan Ker guarded the train. Taylor halted his columns and formed a line behind his batteries when the Mexican artillery started firing at 2 PM, the American artillery was very effective while the Mexican artillery often fell short. Arista ordered Torrejons cavalry to attack the American right, but progress was slow, a fire started from a cannon burning wad which halted fighting for an hour as the smoke paralleled the lines.
Arista pulled back 1,000 yards on his left and Taylor advanced accordingly, may failed to turn the Mexican left before the artillery duel resumed. Childs artillery battalion formed a square to repel another Torrejon cavalry charge, duncans battery stopped Arista from turning the American left and advanced with the 8th Infantry and Kers dragoons to drive the Mexican right from the field
Black Hawk War
The Black Hawk War was a brief 1832 conflict between the United States and Native Americans led by Black Hawk, a Sauk leader. Black Hawks motives were ambiguous, but he was hoping to avoid bloodshed while resettling on tribal land that had been ceded to the United States in the disputed 1804 Treaty of St. Louis. US officials, convinced that the British Band was hostile, mobilized a frontier militia, Black Hawk responded by successfully attacking the militia at the Battle of Stillmans Run. He led his band to a location in what is now southern Wisconsin and was pursued by US forces. Meanwhile, other Native Americans conducted raids against forts and settlements largely unprotected with the absence of US troops, some Ho-Chunk and Potawatomi warriors with grievances against European-Americans took part in these raids, although most tribe members tried to avoid the conflict. The Menominee and Dakota tribes, already at odds with the Sauks and Meskwakis, commanded by General Henry Atkinson, the US troops tracked the British Band.
Militia under Colonel Henry Dodge caught up with the British Band on July 21, Black Hawks band was weakened by hunger and desertion and many native survivors retreated towards the Mississippi. On August 2, US soldiers attacked the remnants of the British Band at the Battle of Bad Axe, Black Hawk and other leaders escaped, but surrendered and were imprisoned for a year. The Black Hawk War gave the young captain Abraham Lincoln his brief military service, other participants who became famous included Winfield Scott, Zachary Taylor, and Jefferson Davis. The war gave impetus to the US policy of Indian removal, in which Native American tribes were pressured to sell their lands and move west of the Mississippi River and stay there. In the 18th century, the Sauk and Meskwaki Native American tribes lived along the Mississippi River in what is now the U. S. states of Illinois, by the time of the Black Hawk War, the population of the two tribes was about 6,000 people. As the United States expanded westward in the early 19th century, the treaty became controversial because the Native leaders had not been authorized by their tribal councils to cede lands.
Historian Robert Owens argued that the chiefs probably did not intend to give up ownership of the land, and that they would not have sold so much valuable territory for such a modest price. Historian Patrick Jung concluded that the Sauk and Meskwaki chiefs intended to cede a little land, according to Jung, the Sauks and Meskwakis did not learn the true extent of the cession until years later. The 1804 treaty allowed the tribes to continue using the land until it was sold to American settlers by the U. S. government. For the next two decades, Sauks continued to live at Saukenuk, their village, which was located near the confluence of the Mississippi. In 1828, the U. S. government finally began to have the land surveyed for white settlement. Indian agent Thomas Forsyth informed the Sauks that they should vacate Saukenuk, the Sauks were divided about whether to resist implementation of the disputed 1804 treaty
General officer
A general officer is an officer of high rank in the army, and in some nations air forces or marines. The term general is used in two ways, as the title for all grades of general officer and as a specific rank. It originates in the 16th century, as a shortening of captain general, the adjective general had been affixed to officer designations since the late medieval period to indicate relative superiority or an extended jurisdiction. Today, the title of General is known in countries as a four-star rank. However different countries use different systems of stars for senior ranks and it has a NATO code of OF-9 and is the highest rank currently in use in a number of armies. The various grades of general officer are at the top of the rank structure. Lower-ranking officers in military forces are typically known as field officers or field-grade officers. There are two systems of general ranks used worldwide. In addition there is a system, the Arab system of ranks. Variations of one form, the old European system, were used throughout Europe.
It is used in the United Kingdom, from which it spread to the Commonwealth. The other is derived from the French Revolution, where ranks are named according to the unit they command. The system used either a general or a colonel general rank. The rank of marshal was used by some countries as the highest rank. Many countries actually used two brigade command ranks, which is why some countries now use two stars as their brigade general insignia and Argentina still use two brigade command ranks. As a lieutenant outranks a sergeant major, confusion arises because a lieutenant is outranked by a major. Originally the serjeant major was, the commander of the infantry, junior only to the captain general, the distinction of serjeant major general only applied after serjeant majors were introduced as a rank of field officer. Serjeant was eventually dropped from both titles, creating the modern rank titles
Confederate States of America
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 and North Carolina – 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 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 and laborers, the most notable advance was Shermans March to the Sea in late 1864. Much of the Confederacys infrastructure was destroyed, including telegraphs, 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 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
United States of America
Confederate States of America
Confederate States Army
Brevet Major General, USA
Major General, CSA
