Civil War: The Bloodiest Battles
Ariel Ballesteros
The Anaconda Plan
The Anaconda Plan (nicknamed Scott's Great Snake) was designed by General Winfield Scott as a way to put down the rebellion of the Confederacy and to prevent the bloody wars to come. His plan was to block the saltwater ports and cut off all commerce on the Mississippi River, preventing almost any and all trade from happening between the South so that no supplies would be brought through and the Confederates would not be able to ship cotton back and forth to supply goods for the war. Scott's main plan was for the Confederates to come back and join the Union do to the economic stress it would cause on the South. However great of a plan this was, Lincoln ultimately turned it down, and chose battle over compromise and chance of peace.
Battle of Antietam
Near Sharpsburg, Maryland General Robert E. Lee had the plan to split his army into four parts and come in from all four sides to attack the Union, brilliant as it was, a Confederate officer had lost his copy of the orders describing the plan in great detail and it was later found by a Union soldier. Though McClellan had read through the plans, he did not attack immediately, although Antietam was a major victory for the Union. When the war did break out, it proved to be the deadliest single day of fighting in the war and completely shocked both the North and South. The Texans had lost 80% of their brigade and more then about 6,000 soldiers died. During the battle, nearly four hours were spent battling in a sunken clay pit that was later named "Bloody Lane" where thousands of soldiers died. Very soon after the Union's victory, Abraham Lincoln announced the Emancipation Proclamation, which issued that from that moment on all slaves in the rebellious states "shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free.”
Bloody Lane
Lincoln and McClellan After the Battle
Fallen Confederate Soldiers
Battle of Gettysburg
Lee led 60,000 men into Union territory to fight against 3,000 soldiers who were waiting for them. While the Union defends Washington, Lee's plan is to destroy as many military posts as possible. A key target for the Confederate army was Camp Curtin near Harrisburg which was the largest military supply in the North at the time. What the General hoped to do was encourage people to lose faith in the war and destroy Lincoln politically. At Gettysburg, Lee had ordered his entire army to mobilize and converge in one town. After hours of fighting and a near loss for Union Soldiers, reinforcements finally arrive at Cemetery Ridge where the battle continues. On day three the Union launches 12,000 men and Lee later retreats with casualties exceedingly high. Four months later Lincoln arrives and delivers the honorable Gettysburg Address which became one of the most important speeches in American history. In it he spoke of human equality which was pulled from the Declaration of Independence and the desire for “a new birth of freedom.”
Soldiers crowd around to hear Abraham Lincoln give the Gettysburg Address
Battle of Vicksburg
Ulysess S. Grant split his Confederate army into two, both the Union and Confederate army fighting specifically for the Mississippi River. Grant began to send ships through the river and attack from the South, the ships were mostly unscathed and the real battle began. The Union had 77,000 soldiers while the Confederate only had 33,000 soldiers. Total estimated casualties were 37,402 and the Confederate army made up 32,492 of those casualties. On July 4, 1863 the Confederates finally surrender and the Confederacy had been torn apart.
Maps and Extra PIctures:
92