1.
Confederate States Army
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The Confederate States Army was the military ground force of the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War. S. Military Academy and colonel of a regiment during the Mexican War. In March 1861, the Provisional Confederate Congress established a more permanent Confederate States Army, the better estimates of the number of individual Confederate soldiers are between 750,000 and 1,000,000 men. This does not include a number of slaves who were pressed into performing various tasks for the army, such as construction of fortifications. Since these figures include estimates of the number of individual soldiers who served at any time during the war. These numbers do not include men who served in Confederate naval forces, although most of the soldiers who fought in the American Civil War were volunteers, both sides by 1862 resorted to conscription, primarily as a means to force men to register and to volunteer. In the absence of records, estimates of the percentage of Confederate soldiers who were draftees are about double the 6 percent of Union soldiers who were conscripts. Confederate casualty figures also are incomplete and unreliable, one estimate of Confederate wounded, which is considered incomplete, is 194,026. These numbers do not include men who died from causes such as accidents. Other Confederate forces surrendered between April 16,1865 and June 28,1865, by the end of the war, more than 100,000 Confederate soldiers had deserted. The Confederacys government effectively dissolved when it fled Richmond in April, by the time Abraham Lincoln took office as President of the United States on March 4,1861, the seven seceding slave states had formed the Confederate States. The Confederacy seized federal property, including nearly all U. S. Army forts, Lincoln was determined to hold the forts remaining under U. S. control when he took office, especially Fort Sumter in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina. Under orders from Confederate President Jefferson Davis, C. S. troops under the command of General P. G. T, Beauregard bombarded Fort Sumter on April 12–13,1861, forcing its capitulation on April 14. The Northern states were outraged by the Confederacys attack and demanded war and it rallied behind Lincolns call on April 15, for all the states to send troops to recapture the forts from the secessionists, to put down the rebellion and to preserve the Union intact. Four more slave states joined the Confederacy. The Confederate Congress provided for a Confederate army patterned after the United States Army and it was to consist of a large provisional force to exist only in time of war and a small permanent regular army. Although the two forces were to exist concurrently, very little was done to organize the Confederate regular army, the Provisional Army of the Confederate States began organizing on April 27. Virtually all regular, volunteer, and conscripted men preferred to enter this organization since officers could achieve a rank in the Provisional Army than they could in the Regular Army
2.
General officers in the Confederate States Army
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The general officers of the Confederate States Army were the senior military leaders of the Confederacy during the American Civil War of 1861–1865. They were often former officers from the United States Army prior to the Civil War, most Confederate generals needed confirmation from the Confederate Congress, much like prospective generals in the modern U. S. armed forces. Much of the design of the Confederate States Army was based on the structure, the Confederate Army was composed of three parts, the Army of the Confederate States of America, the Provisional Army of the Confederate States, and the various Southern state militias. Graduates from West Point and Mexican War veterans were highly sought after by Jefferson Davis for military service, like their Federal counterparts, the Confederate Army had both professional and political generals within it. Ranks throughout the CSA were roughly based on the U. S. Army in design and seniority. On February 27,1861, a staff for the army was authorized, consisting of four positions, an adjutant general, a quartermaster general, a commissary general. Initially the last of these was to be a staff officer only, the post of adjutant general was filled by Samuel Cooper and he held it throughout the Civil War, as well as the armys inspector general. As officers were appointed to the grades of general by Jefferson Davis. The dates of rank, as well as seniority of officers appointed to the grade on the same day, were determined by Davis usually following the guidelines established for the prewar U. S. Army. These generals were most often infantry or cavalry brigade commanders, aides to other higher ranking generals, and War Department staff officers. By wars end the Confederacy had at least 383 different men who held this rank in the PACS, the organization of regiments into brigades was authorized by the Congress on March 6,1861. Brigadier generals would command them, and these generals were to be nominated by Davis and these generals also often led sub-districts within military departments, with command over soldiers in their sub-district. These generals outranked Confederate Army colonels, who commonly led infantry regiments and this rank is equivalent to brigadier general in the modern U. S. army. These generals were most commonly infantry division commanders, aides to other higher ranking generals and they also led the districts that made up military departments, and had command over the troops in their districts. By wars end, the Confederacy had at least 88 different men who had held this rank, divisions were authorized by the Congress on March 6,1861, and major generals would command them. These generals were to be nominated by Davis and confirmed by the Senate, Major generals outranked brigadiers and all other lesser officers. This rank was not synonymous with the Unions use of it, as Northern major generals led divisions, corps and this rank is equivalent in most respects to major general in the modern U. S. Army. All of the Confederacys lieutenant generals were in the PACS, the Congress legalized the creation of army corps on September 18,1862, and directed that lieutenant generals lead them
3.
Robert E. Lee
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Robert Edward Lee was an American general known for commanding the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia in the American Civil War from 1862 until his surrender in 1865. During this time, he served throughout the United States, distinguished himself during the Mexican–American War, during the first year of the Civil War, Lee served as a senior military adviser to President Jefferson Davis. Once he took command of the field army in 1862 he soon emerged as a shrewd tactician and battlefield commander, winning most of his battles. Lees strategic foresight was more questionable, and both of his major offensives into Union territory ended in defeat, Lees aggressive tactics, which resulted in high casualties at a time when the Confederacy had a shortage of manpower, have come under criticism in recent years. Lee surrendered his army to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House on April 9,1865. By this time, Lee had assumed command of the remaining Southern armies. Lee rejected the proposal of an insurgency against the Union. He urged them to rethink their position between the North and the South, and the reintegration of former Confederates into the political life. Lee became the great Southern hero of the War, an icon of the Lost Cause of the Confederacy to some. But his popularity even in the North, especially after his death in 1870. Barracks at West Point built in 1962 are named after him, Robert Edward Lee was born at Stratford Hall Plantation in Westmoreland County, Virginia, to Major General Henry Lee III, Governor of Virginia, and his second wife, Anne Hill Carter. His birth date has traditionally been recorded as January 19,1807, one of Lees great grandparents, Henry Lee I, was a prominent Virginian colonist of English descent. Lees family is one of Virginias first families, descended from Richard Lee I, Esq. the Immigrant, Lees mother grew up at Shirley Plantation, one of the most elegant homes in Virginia. Lees father, a planter, suffered severe financial reverses from failed investments. Little is known of Lee as a child, he spoke of his boyhood as an adult. Nothing is known of his relationship with his father who, after leaving his family, mentioned Robert only once in a letter. In 1811, the family, including the newly born child, Mildred, moved to a house on Oronoco Street, still close to the center of town. In 1812, Harry Lee was badly injured in a riot in Baltimore
4.
Maryland Campaign
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The Maryland Campaign—or Antietam Campaign—occurred September 4–20,1862, during the American Civil War. Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lees first invasion of the North was repulsed by the Army of the Potomac under Maj. Gen. George B, McClellan, who moved to intercept Lee and his Army of Northern Virginia and eventually attacked it near Sharpsburg, Maryland. The resulting Battle of Antietam was the bloodiest single-day battle in American history and is considered one of the major turning points of the war. Following his victory in the Northern Virginia Campaign, Lee moved north with 55,000 men through the Shenandoah Valley starting on September 4,1862. His objective was to resupply his army outside of the war-torn Virginia theater and he undertook the risky maneuver of splitting his army so that he could continue north into Maryland while simultaneously capturing the Federal garrison and arsenal at Harpers Ferry. McClellan accidentally found a copy of Lees orders to his commanders and planned to isolate. The Battle of South Mountain on September 14 delayed McClellans advance, the Battle of Antietam on September 17 was the bloodiest day in American military history with over 22,000 casualties. On September 18, Lee ordered a withdrawal across the Potomac and on September 19–20, although Antietam was a tactical draw, Lees Maryland Campaign failed to achieve its objectives. President Abraham Lincoln used this Union victory as the justification for announcing his Emancipation Proclamation, the year 1862 started out well for Union forces in the Eastern Theater. McClellans Army of the Potomac had invaded the Virginia Peninsula during the Peninsula Campaign, but, when Robert E. Lee assumed command of the Army of Northern Virginia on June 1,1862, fortunes reversed. Lee fought McClellan aggressively in the Seven Days Battles, McClellan lost his nerve, Lee then conducted the Northern Virginia Campaign in which he outmaneuvered and defeated Maj. Gen. John Pope and his Army of Virginia, most significantly at the Second Battle of Bull Run. Lees Maryland Campaign can be considered the part of a logically connected, three-campaign. The Confederates had suffered significant manpower losses in the wake of the summer campaigns, nevertheless, Lee decided his army was ready for a great challenge, an invasion of the North. His goal was to reach the major Northern states of Maryland and Pennsylvania and his movements would threaten Washington and Baltimore, so as to annoy and harass the enemy. Several motives led to Lees decision to launch an invasion, First, he needed to supply his army and knew the farms of the North had been untouched by war, unlike those in Virginia. Moving the war northward would relieve pressure on Virginia, Second was the issue of Northern morale. Lee knew the Confederacy did not have to win the war by defeating the North militarily, it merely needed to make the Northern populace and he told Confederate President Jefferson Davis in a letter of September 3 that the enemy was much weakened and demoralized. There were secondary reasons as well, the Confederate invasion might be able to incite an uprising in Maryland, especially given that it was a slave-holding state and many of its citizens held a sympathetic stance toward the South
5.
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
6.
Frederick County, Maryland
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Frederick County is a county located in the northern part of the U. S. state of Maryland. As of the 2010 U. S. Census, the population was 240,336, Frederick County is included in the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area. Like other outlying sections of the Washington metropolitan area, Frederick County has experienced a population increase in recent years. The county is associated with Western Maryland, depending on the definition used. It borders the southern border of Pennsylvania and the border of Virginia. The county is home to Catoctin Mountain Park and to the U. S. Armys Fort Detrick and it has also been the home to several celebrated historical figures like Francis Scott Key, Chris Rose, Zach Taylor, Matt Bennett, Thomas Johnson, Roger B. The namesake of Frederick County and its county seat is unknown, Frederick County was created in 1748 from parts of Prince Georges County and Baltimore County. In 1776, Frederick County was divided into three parts, the westernmost portion became Washington County, named after George Washington, the southernmost portion became Montgomery County, named after another Revolutionary War general, Richard Montgomery. The northern portion remained Frederick County, in 1837 a part of Frederick County was combined with a part of Baltimore County to form Carroll County which is east of current day Frederick County. The county has a number of properties on the National Register of Historic Places, according to the U. S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 667 square miles, of which 660 square miles is land and 7.2 square miles is water. It is the largest county in Maryland in terms of land area, Frederick County straddles the boundary between the Piedmont Plateau Region and the Appalachian Mountains. The countys two prominent ridges, Catoctin Mountain and South Mountain, form an extension of the Blue Ridge, the Middletown Valley lies between them. The summary statistics for Frederick County from the U. S. Census 2000 are provided to compare, as of the 2010 United States Census, there were 233,385 people,84,800 households, and 61,198 families residing in the county. The population density was 353.5 inhabitants per square mile, there were 90,136 housing units at an average density of 136.5 per square mile. The racial makeup of the county was 81. 5% white,8. 6% black or African American,3. 8% Asian,0. 3% American Indian,2. 9% from other races, and 2. 8% from two or more races. The total of those self-identifying as Hispanic or Latino origin made up 7. 3%, and those persons who were white alone made up 77. 8% of the population. In terms of ancestry,26. 3% were German,17. 4% were Irish,12. 1% were English,7. 2% were Italian, the average household size was 2.70 and the average family size was 3.17. The median age was 38.6 years, the median income for a household in the county was $81,686 and the median income for a family was $95,036
7.
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
8.
Military intelligence
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Military intelligence is a military discipline that uses information collection and analysis approaches to provide guidance and direction to commanders in support of their decisions. In order to provide an analysis, the information requirements are first identified. These information requirements are incorporated into intelligence collection, analysis. Areas of study may include the environment, hostile, friendly and neutral forces, the civilian population in an area of combat operations. Intelligence activities are conducted at all levels, from tactical to strategic, in peacetime, the period of transition to war, most governments maintain a military intelligence capability to provide analytical and information collection personnel in both specialist units and from other arms and services. The military intelligence capabilities interact with civilian intelligence capabilities to inform the spectrum of political, personnel selected for intelligence duties may be selected for their analytical abilities and personal intelligence before receiving formal training. Intelligence operations are carried out throughout the hierarchy of political and military activity, strategic intelligence is concerned with broad issues such as economics, political assessments, military capabilities and intentions of foreign nations. Operational intelligence is focused on support or denial of intelligence at operational tiers, operational tier is below strategic level of leadership and refers to the design of practical manifestation. Tactical intelligence is focused on support to operations at the tactical level, at the tactical level, briefings are delivered to patrols on current threats and collection priorities. These patrols are then debriefed to elicit information for analysis and communication through the reporting chain, Intelligence should respond to the needs of the commander, based on the military objective and the outline plans for the operation. The military objective provides a focus for the process, from which a number of information requirements are derived. In response to the requirements, the analysis staff trawls existing information. Where gaps in knowledge exist, the staff may be able to task collection assets to collect against the requirement, analysis reports draw on all available sources of information, whether drawn from existing material or collected in response to the requirement. The analysis reports are used to inform the planning staff. This process is described as Collection Co-ordination and Intelligence Requirement Management, the process of intelligence has four phases, collection, analysis, processing and dissemination. In the United Kingdom these are known as direction, collection, processing, many of the most important facts are well known or may be gathered from public sources. This form of collection is known as open source intelligence. For example, the population, ethnic make-up and main industries of a region are important to military commanders
9.
Battle of South Mountain
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The Battle of South Mountain—known in several early Southern accounts as the Battle of Boonsboro Gap—was fought September 14,1862, as part of the Maryland Campaign of the American Civil War. Three pitched battles were fought for possession of three South Mountain passes, Cramptons, Turners, and Foxs Gaps. McClellan, commanding the Union Army of the Potomac, needed to pass through gaps in his pursuit of Confederate General Robert E. Lees precariously divided Army of Northern Virginia. Although the delay bought at South Mountain would allow him to reunite his army and forestall defeat in detail, South Mountain is the name given to the continuation of the Blue Ridge Mountains after they enter Maryland. It is an obstacle that separates the Hagerstown Valley and Cumberland Valley from the eastern part of Maryland. After Lee invaded Maryland, a copy of an order, known as order 191, from this, McClellan learned that Lee had split his forces, sending one wing under Maj. Gen. Thomas J. Jackson to lay siege to Harpers Ferry. The rest of Lees army was posted at Boonsboro under command of Maj. Gen. James Longstreet. C, to counter the Confederate invasion, McClellan lead the Army of the Potomac west in an effort to force battle on the isolated parts of Lees divided force. McClellan temporarily organized his army into three wings for the attacks on the passes, Maj. Gen. Ambrose Burnside, the Right Wing, commanded the I Corps and IX Corps. The Right Wing was sent to Turners Gap and Foxs Gap in the north, the Left Wing, commanded by Maj. Gen. William B. Franklin, consisting of his own VI Corps and Maj. Gen. Darius N. Couchs division of the IV Corps, was sent to Cramptons Gap in the south, the Center Wing, under Maj. Gen. Edwin V. Sumner, was in reserve. From Boonsboro, Lee had sent a column under Maj Gen. James Longstreet northward to respond to a threat from Pennsylvania. After learning of McClellans intelligence coup, Lee quickly recalled Longstreets forces to reinforce the South Mountain passes, on the day of the battle, the only Confederate force posted around Boonsboro was a five-brigade division under Maj. Gen. D. H. Hill. At the southernmost point of the battle, near Burkittsville, Confederate cavalry, franklin spent three hours deploying his forces. A Confederate later wrote of a lion making exceedingly careful preparations to spring on a little mouse. Franklin deployed the division of Maj. Gen. Henry W. Slocum on the right and they seized the gap and captured 400 prisoners, mostly men who were arriving as late reinforcements from Brig. Gen. Howell Cobbs brigade. Confederate Maj. Gen. D. H. Hill, deploying 5,000 men over more than 2 miles, Burnside sent Hookers I Corps to the right and Turners Gap. The Union Iron Brigade attacked Colonel Alfred H. Colquitts brigade along the National Road, driving it back up the mountain, hooker positioned three divisions opposite two peaks located one mile north of the gap. Darkness and the terrain prevented the complete collapse of Lees line
10.
Battle of Antietam
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After pursuing the Confederate general Robert E. Lee into Maryland, Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan of the Union Army launched attacks against Lees army, in defensive positions behind Antietam Creek. At dawn on September 17, Maj. Gen. Joseph Hookers corps mounted an assault on Lees left flank. Attacks and counterattacks swept across Millers Cornfield, and fighting swirled around the Dunker Church, Union assaults against the Sunken Road eventually pierced the Confederate center, but the Federal advantage was not followed up. In the afternoon, Union Maj. Gen. Ambrose Burnsides corps entered the action, capturing a bridge over Antietam Creek. At a crucial moment, Confederate Maj. Gen. A. P. Hills division arrived from Harpers Ferry and launched a counterattack, driving back Burnside. Although outnumbered two-to-one, Lee committed his entire force, while McClellan sent in less than three-quarters of his army, during the night, both armies consolidated their lines. In spite of crippling casualties, Lee continued to skirmish with McClellan throughout September 18, despite having superiority of numbers, McClellans attacks failed to achieve force concentration, which allowed Lee to counter by shifting forces and moving interior lines to meet each challenge. Therefore, despite ample reserve forces that could have been deployed to exploit localized successes, McClellan had halted Lees invasion of Maryland, but Lee was able to withdraw his army back to Virginia without interference from the cautious McClellan. McClellans refusal to pursue Lees army led to his removal from command by President Abraham Lincoln in November, although the battle was tactically inconclusive, the Confederate troops had withdrawn first from the battlefield, making it, in military terms, a Union victory. Robert E. Lees Army of Northern Virginia—about 55,000 men—entered the state of Maryland on September 3,1862, emboldened by success, the Confederate leadership intended to take the war into enemy territory. Lees invasion of Maryland was intended to run simultaneously with an invasion of Kentucky by the armies of Braxton Bragg and it was also necessary for logistical reasons, as northern Virginias farms had been stripped bare of food. They sang the tune Maryland, My Maryland, as they marched, but by the fall of 1862 pro-Union sentiment was winning out, especially in the western parts of the state. Civilians generally hid inside their houses as Lees army passed through their towns, or watched in cold silence, while the Army of the Potomac was cheered and encouraged. While McClellans 87, 000-man Army of the Potomac was moving to intercept Lee, the order indicated that Lee had divided his army and dispersed portions geographically, thus making each subject to isolation and defeat if McClellan could move quickly enough. McClellan waited about 18 hours before deciding to take advantage of this intelligence and reposition his forces, McClellans Army of the Potomac, bolstered by units absorbed from John Popes Army of Virginia, included six infantry corps. The I Corps, under Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker, consisted of the divisions of, the II Corps, under Maj. Gen. Edwin V. Sumner, consisted of the divisions of, Maj. Gen. Israel B. The V Corps, under Maj. Gen. Fitz John Porter, consisted of the divisions of, the VI Corps, under Maj. Gen. William B. Franklin, consisted of the divisions of, Maj. Gen. Henry W. Slocum, Maj. Gen. William F. Baldy Smith
