DK - The American Civil War

(^) M
iss
ou
ri
Ri
ve
r
(^) M
iss
iss
ipp
i (^) R
ive
r
Ohio^
Rive
r
Ten
ne
sse
e^ R
ive
r
Cumberl
and
River
Rio
(^) G
ran
de
(^) Ar
kans
as (^) Riv
er
Red River^
GULF OF^ ME
XIC
O
A
T
L
A
N
T
I
C
O
C
E
A
N
Chicago
New York City
Philadelphia
New Orleans
Boston
Charleston
Savannah
Atlanta
Mobile
Galveston
Buffalo
Richmond
Norfolk
Concord
St. Louis
Memphis
Louisville
Cincinnati
Washington, D.C.
Manassas
Montgomery
Meridian
Corinth
Austin
Des Moines
Vicksburg
Chattanooga
Nashville
Indianapolis
Kansas City
Jacksonville
West
Point
Wilson’s Creek
VERMONT MAINE
NEW
HAMPSHIRE
MASSACHUSETTS
NEW
YORK
NEW JERSEY
RHODE ISLAND
CONNECTICUT
PENNSYLVANIA
OHIO
MICHIGAN
INDIANA
ILLINOIS
MISSOURI
KENTUCKY
WISCONSIN
IOWA
MINNESOTA
KANSAS
VIRGINIA
Apr/May
1861
NORTH CAROLINA
Apr/May
1861
SOUTH
CAROLINA
Dec 1860
TENNESSEE
Apr/May 1861
GEORGIA
Jan/Feb
1861
ALABAMA
Jan/Feb
1861
FLORIDA
Jan/Feb
1861
MISSISSIPPI
Jan/Feb
1861
ARKANSAS
Apr/May
1861
TEXAS
Jan/Feb 1861 LOUISIANA
Jan/Feb
1861
NEBRASKA
TERRITORY
DAKOTA
TERRITORY
DELAWARE
MARYLAND
Indian
Territory
Inset map area
and based their recruitment on calls that emphasized principled
outrage over the perceived iniquity of their opponents, a process
that could only deepen the divide.
From the start, it was an asymmetrical struggle. In one respect,
the South had the advantage. To win, the North needed to defeat
its enemies and bring secession to an end; the South needed only
to survive. In other respects, the North’s superiority was massive—a
much larger population accompanied by an overwhelming advantage
in industrial power and financial resources. These strategic realities
meant that the war was unlikely to be decided quickly, whatever the
results of the early battles. At the start, the South was better served
by its generals than the North, and the Confederacy was made safe
for the moment on land. On the Confederacy’s coast and its rivers,
however, the Union’s superior resources promised greater success.
18 61
The war starts
Fort Sumter, Charleston,
comes under Confederate
attack on April 12. Earlier
Major Robert Anderson,
the commander of the
Union garrison, transferred
men from Fort Moultrie
to the more easily
defensible Fort Sumter.
Union Strategy
Command of the coast and
the Mississippi are key to the
strategy outlined in May by
General Winfield Scott, Union
general-in-chief. Intended to
throttle the life out of the
Confederacy, it is dubbed
the Anaconda Plan.
Confederate victory in Missouri
The Battle of Wilson’s Creek, fought in Missouri
on August 10, gives the South a victory in the
Western Theater. Although the Union army is
heavily outnumbered and forced to retreat,
casualties in the fighting are roughly equal.
Volunteers in New York
The streets of New York City are lined with
large, enthusiastic crowds on April 19 as the
7th New York Infantry Regiment parades
through the metropolis. On April 25, the
regiment arrives in Washington, D.C., where
its men bolster the capital’s defenses.