The March Through Georgia

General William T. Sherman of Atlanta’s campaign was a March of destruction that started in August 1864 or otherwise known as his march to the sea. Sherman left Chattanooga and was soon fighting Confederate General Joseph Johnston. Johnston’s skillful tactics against Sherman stopped Sherman from going further into Georgia, even though Sherman’s army was twice the size of Johnston’s. Johnston was later replaced by General John Bell. Sherman’s army quickly took advantage of the situation and defeated Bell’s forces in Atlanta Georgia on September first. Sherman occupied the city the next day. In November (1864) Sherman continued his march to the sea, but on his way he had his army cut a path 300 miles long and 50 miles wide and told his troops to burn anything that was in their path. General Sherman final captures Savannah Georgia on December 20 and decides not to burn the city.That same day Sherman telegrams President Lincoln offering Savannah as an early Christmas gift.  

"General William Sherman in Georgia." General William Sherman in Georgia. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Jan. 2013. <http://www.civilwarhome.com/shermangeorgia.htm>.

  

Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln (Republican) was re-elected to his second term on September eighth 1864. He ran for president against General George McClellan (Democrat). George McClellan was once the commander of the Union army until Lincoln fired him. Lincoln almost lost the election because he vetoed against the Wade Davis Bill. The Wade Davis Bill required 50 percent of white voters in a seceded state to be remitted into the Union. This was impossible when the country was split in two and there was so much hatred towards the North. Lincoln was more in favor of his idea of having 10% of  a seceded sate population agree on remission.None of the seceded states would be able to get half their population voting for remission so the Wade Davis Bill failed. Lincoln won the election primarily because of the success on the battlefield and people believed that the war was going to end soon.

Townsend, By Timothy P. "Lincoln, Grant, and the 1864 Election." National Parks Service. National Parks Service, 29 Oct. 2012. Web. 27 Jan. 2013. <http://www.nps.gov/liho/historyculture/lincolngrant.htm>.

The Siege of Petersburg

General George G. Meade and General Ulysses S. Grant armies slipped away from Cold Harbor and started to head to Petersburg Virginia (the transportation hub of the confederacy)  on May 4 (1864). Grant thought if Petersburg was under Union control that Robert E. Lee (Confederate) would have to evacuate Richmond and potentially end the Civil War. Petersburg was very well protected by 2,200 Confederate troops and several artillery batteries. This made it challenging for Grant to attack the city. On June 15 Grant had his troops run along the ravine near battery five and successfully took it over. Confederate reinforcements came and continued the battle until Union soldiers took over the city 291 days later. There were 11,386 casualties from the battle; 8,150 from the Union and 3,236 from the Confederates. The siege on Petersburg resulted in a loss for the Union, but one step closer to Richmond.               

"Civil War Trust." The Battle of Petersburg Summary & Facts. Civil War We Trust, n.d. Web. 27 Jan. 2013. <http://www.civilwar.org/battlefields/petersburg.html?tab=facts>

The Hunely

       The Confederate Army in late 1864 was struggling to find a way to combat the North on the high seas. An inventor by the name Horace Hunley came up with a radical solution of going deep under the ocean and sneaking up on the Union ships and attaching an explosive device to the ship’s hull. He called this invention the submarine. The submarine that Horace Hunley invented was made out of a large cast iron boiler that he extended to accommodate the 9 crewmen. The submarine was powered by eight men who had to hand crank the propeller for it to move. There was one captain that steered the submarine and controlled ballast tanks which allowed the submarine to rise and sink in the water. The first mission for the Hunley took place in was against the Housatonic (a small sloop that was located in Charleston harbor in S.C.  ) the Hunley stuck a torpedo filled with black powder and blew up the Housatonic. The Irony of the successful destruction of the Housatonic was that the Hunley sank with it.The project quickly ended after the sinking of the Hunley.  

"H. L. Hunley, Confederate Submarine." Underwater Archaeology. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Jan. 2013. <http://www.history.navy.mil/branches/org12-3.htm>.

The Battle of Cold Harbor

The Battle of Cold Harbor took place in Hanover County Virginia and started on May 31 when Sheridan’s cavalry captured the vital cross roads around Cold Harbor. On June first (1864) Union corps VI and XVII arrived and supported Sheridan’s cavalry regiment. On June Second both armies were on the battlefield, which was seven miles long and extended from Bethesda Church to Chickahominy River. On June 3(1864) II and XVII corps assaulted the Confederates along Bethesda Church and were decimated by the Confederate army. Grant later said that he regretted the order to attack. The North and South continued fighting on that line until June twelfth. On June twelfth Grant had his army move to the left flank and started to march to James River. On June fourteenth the II Union corps were ferried a crossed the James River at Willcoxs Landing. June fifteenth the rest of Grants Army crossed the River at Wayanoke Bridge. At the end of the battle there were 15,500 casualties, 13,000 were from the Union Army and 2,500 from the Confederate army.  The Confederate won the battle of Cold Harbor due to the lack of poor planning.

"Cold Harbor." HPS. CWSAC, n.d. Web. 27 Jan. 2013. <http://www.nps.gov/hps/abpp/battles/va062.htm>.

The Wade Davis Bill

In the late months of 1863 the North saw that the Civil War was going in their favor and would be shortly won. President Abraham Lincoln posed the question to Congress of how to remit the seceded states. In December 1863, Lincoln came up with a way to remit the seceded states. In order to reenter into the Union, a state would have to have 10 percent of it population take an oath to the United States. Several Congressmen believed that Lincoln was being too easy towards the seceded states. In 1864 Senator Benjamin F. Wade and Representative Henry Winter Davis came up with a counter proposal called the Wade Davis Bill. This Bill mandated that 50 percent of the white male population of a seceded state must take an oath to the United States and required that states allow African Americans to vote. President Lincoln rejected the Wade Davis Bill and the Bill died. Later in history the Wade Davis Bill did give inspiration to some polices during reconstruction.  

"Home." Wade-Davis Bill (1864). The National Archives, n.d. Web. 27 Jan. 2013. <http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=true>.

The Gold Hoax of 1864

On May 18^th 1864 two morning papers, the New York World and the Journal Commerce said that President Lincoln was calling for an additional 400,000 men to join the Union Army. This implied that the war was going to last for many more years which caused many people to take money out of the stock market and invest in gold (a much safer option).By 11’ o clock massive amount of people started to gather around the stock exchange to learn if Lincoln really issued the proclamation because only two papers printed a draft notice. The Associated Press issued a statement denying the draft notice. The   Secretary of State William H. Seward also denied the allegation. On May 21 Francis A. Malison, a reporter for the Brooklyn Eagle quickly confessed to being an accomplice. He claimed that Joseph Howard the editor of the Brooklyn Eagle. Deliberately gave New York World and the Journal Commerce inaccurate information so the prices of gold would go up. Joseph Howard invested heavily in gold the day before he gave the false information to the newspapers.  Joseph Howard severed three months of jail before he was released by President Lincoln. Two months after the scandal, President Lincoln ordered a draft of 500,000 men for the Civil War.               

"The Civil War Gold Hoax, 1864." The Civil War Gold Hoax, 1864. The Museum of Hoaxes, n.d. Web. 27 Jan. 2013. <http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/hoax/archive/permalink/the_civil_war_gold_hoax>.