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CIVIL

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Originally appearing in Volume V01, Page 828 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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CIVIL `'See also:

VAR began See also:Lee had no resource but to try and See also:escape to the See also:south-See also:west in See also:order to join See also:Johnston. The western See also:movement was covered by a furious sortie from the lines of See also:Petersburg, which was repulsed with heavy loss. See also:Grant See also:felt that this was a See also:mere feint to See also:screen some other move, and instantly carried the See also:Army of the See also:Potomac to the westward, leaving a See also:bare screen of troops in his lines. On the 29th of See also:March the movement began, followed in rapid See also:succession by the combats of See also:White See also:Oak Road and See also:Dinwiddie See also:Court See also:House and See also:Sheridan's See also:great victory of Five Forks. At the same See also:time the VI. See also:Corps at last carried the Petersburg lines by See also:storm. Thereupon Lee and See also:Longstreet evacuated the See also:Peters-See also:burg and See also:Richmond lines and began their See also:retreat. Their men were practically starving, though their rearguard showed a brave front. The remnant of See also:Ewell's corps was cut off at Sailor's See also:Creek, and when Sheridan got ahead of the Confederates while Grant furiously pressed them in the See also:rear, surrender was inevitable (See also:April 8). On the 9th the gallant remnant of the Army of See also:northern See also:Virginia laid down its arms at Appomattox Court House, and the Confederacy came to an end. Johnston surrendered to See also:Sherman at See also:Durham Station on the 26th, and soon afterwards all the remaining Confederate soldiers followed their example. So ended the gigantic struggle, as to the conduct of which it is only necessary to quote, with a more See also:general application, the envoi of a Federal historian, " It has not seemed necessary to me to See also:attempt a eulogy of the Army of the Potomac or the Army of northern Virginia." The general terms of surrender were that the See also:Con-federates should give up all material, and sign a See also:parole not to take up arms again.

There were no manifestations of See also:

triumph or exultation on the See also:part of the victors, the See also:lot of the vanquished was made as easy as possible, and after a See also:short time the armies melted into the See also:mass of the See also:people without disturbance or disorder. A general See also:amnesty proclaimed by the See also:president of the See also:United States on the, 29th of May was the formal ending of the Civil See also:War. 35• See also:Character of the War.—No undisciplined levies could have fought as did the armies on both sides. See also:Grave faults the men had, from the See also:regular's point of view. They required humouring, and their march discipline was very elastic. But in See also:battle the " thinking bayonets " resolutely obeyed orders, even though it were to attack a Marye's See also:Hill, or a " Bloody See also:Angle," for they had under-taken their task and would carry it through unflinchingly. So much may be said of both armies. The great See also:advantage of the Confederate—an advantage which he had in a less degree as against the hardier and See also:country-bred Federal of the west—was that he was a See also:hunter and rider See also:born and bred, an excellent shot, and still not infrequently settled his quarrels by the See also:duel. The See also:town-bred soldier of the eastern states was a thoughtful See also:citizen who was determined to do his See also:duty, but he had far less natural aptitude for war than his enemy from the Carolinas or his comrade from See also:Illinois or See also:Kansas. At the same time the more varied conditions of See also:urban See also:life made him more adaptable to changes of See also:climate and of occupation than the " Southron." Irish brigades served on both sides and shot each other to pieces as at Fredericks-burg. They had the reputation of being excellent soldiers. The See also:German divisions, on the other See also:hand, were rarely as See also:good as the See also:rest.

The leading of these men was in the hands, as a See also:

rule, of regular or ex-regular See also:officers, who made many mistakes in their handling of large masses, but had been taught at West Point and on the See also:Indian frontier to command men in danger, and administer them in See also:camp. The volunteer officers rarely led more than a See also:division. When given high command at once they usually failed, but the best of them See also:rose gradually to the See also:superior ranks; See also:Logan, for instance, became an army See also:commander, See also:Sickles, See also:Terry and others corps commanders. See also:Cleburne, one of the best division commanders of the South, had been a See also:corporal in the See also:British army. See also:Meagher, the See also:leader of the " Irish See also:brigade " at Fredericksburg, was the See also:young orator of the " United Irishmen." But Lee, the Johnstons, McClellan, Grant and Sherman had all served in the old army. Most of them were young men in 1861. See also:Stuart was twenty-eight, Sheridan See also:thirty, Grant and See also:Jackson under See also:forty, while some of the subordinate generals were actually fresh from West Point. 36. See also:Strategy and See also:Tactics.--The roughness of much of the country gave a See also:peculiar See also:tone to the strategy of the combatants. Roads were untrustworthy, See also:rivers swelled suddenly, advance and retreat were conditioned and compelled, especially in the See also:case of the See also:ill-equipped Confederates, by the exigencies of See also:food See also:supply. See also:Long forward strides of the See also:Napoleonic type were rarely attempted; " changes of See also:base " were indeed made across country, and over considerable distances, as by Sherman in 1864, but ordinarily either the base and the See also:objective were connected by See also:rail or See also:water, or else every forward step was, after the manner of See also:Marlborough's time, organized as a See also:separate See also:campaign. Hence See also:field fortifications played an unusually prominent part, time and material being available as a rule for See also:works of solid construction.

In isolated instances of more rapid campaigning—e.g. See also:

Antietam and Gettysburg—they were of subordinate importance. The attack and See also:defence of these entrenchments led to See also:tactical phenomena of unusual See also:interest. See also:Cavalry could not bring about the decision in such country, and sought a field for its restless activity elsewhere. See also:Artillery had fallen, technically, far behind the See also:infantry See also:arm, and in See also:face of long-range See also:rifle See also:fire could not annihilate the hostile See also:line with case-shot fire as in the days of See also:Napoleon. In a battle such as See also:Chancellorsville or the See also:Wilderness guns were almost valueless, since there was little open space in which they might be used. It thus See also:fell to the infantry to attack and defend with its own weapons, and the defence was, locally, almost inexpugnable behind its tall breastworks. One line of works could be stormed, but there were almost always two or three retrenchments behind. The attacking infantry, who found it necessary to See also:cross a fire-swept See also:zone 1000 yds. broad, had to be used resolutely in masses, line following line, and each carrying forward the wrecks of its predecessor. Partial attacks were invariably costly failures. The use of masses was never put in practice more sternly than by Grant in 1864. At the same time, as has been said, the cavalry arm found plenty of See also:work.

The horses were not trained for See also:

European See also:shock-tactics, nor did the country offer charging See also:room, and though melees of mounted men engaging with See also:sword and See also:pistol were not infrequent, the usual method of fighting was dismounted fire See also:action, which was practised with uncommon skill by the troopers on both sides. The far-ranging strategic " See also:raid " was a notable feature of the war; freely employed by both sides, it was sometimes harmful, more usually profitable, especially to the South, by See also:reason of the captures in material, the See also:information acquired and the alarm and confusion created. These raids, and the more See also:ordinary screening work, were never executed more brilliantly than by Lee's great cavalry general, " Jeb " Stuart, in Virginia, but the Federal generals, Pleasonton and Sheridan, did excellent work in the See also:east, as also See also:Wheeler and See also:Forrest on the Confederate, See also:Wilson and Grierson on the Federal, See also:side in the west. The technical services, in which the See also:mechanical skill and ingenuity of the See also:American had full See also:play, See also:developed remarkable efficiency. Whether it was desired to build a railway See also:bridge, disable a See also:locomotive or cut a See also:canal, the See also:engineers were always ready with some happy expedient. On one occasion an infantry division of 8000 men repaired 102 See also:miles of railway and built 182 See also:bridges in 40 days, See also:forging their own tools and using See also:local resources. Many novelties, too, such as the field See also:telegraph, balloons and signalling, were employed. 37. The See also:Union and Confederate Navies.—The See also:naval war had been likewise fruitful of lessons for the future. Though wooden See also:ships were still largely employed, the ironclad even then had begun to take a commanding See also:place, and the sailing See also:ship at last disappeared from naval warfare. Mines, torpedoes and sub-See also:marines were all employed, and with the " See also:Monitor " may fairly be said to have begun the application of mechanical See also:science to the uses of naval war. The Federal See also:navy was enormously See also:expanded.

Three See also:

hundred and thirteen steamers were brought into the service. Sloops of an excellent type were built for work on the high seas, of which the celebrated "Kearsarge" was one. See also:Gun-boats were constructed so fast that they were called " ninety-See also:day gunboats." See also:Special reversible See also:paddle steamers (called See also:double-enders) were designed for service in the inlets and estuaries, and sixty-six ironclads were built and employed during the four years. See also:Mississippi See also:river steamers were armed with heavy guns and protected by See also:armour, See also:boiler-plates, See also:cotton See also:bales, &c., and some fast cruisers were constructed for ocean work, one of them actually reaching the high See also:speed of 17.75 M. per See also:hour. The existing Federal navy of 1861 already included some large and powerful See also:modern vessels, such as the " See also:Minnesota " and " Powhatan." To oppose them the Confederates, limited as they were for means, managed to construct various ironclads, and to improvise a considerable See also:fleet of See also:minor vessels, and, though a fighting navy never assembled under a Confederate See also:flag-officer, the See also:Southern warships found another more damaging and more profitable See also:scope for their activity. It has been said that the See also:blockade of the Confederate See also:coast became in the end practically impenetrable, and that every attempt of the Confederate naval forces to break out was checked at once by crushing numerical preponderance. The exciting and profitable occupation of blockade-See also:running led to countless small fights off the various harbours, and sometimes the United States navy had to fight a more serious action when some new " See also:rebel " ironclad emerged from her See also:harbour, inlet or See also:sound. 38. Fort See also:Fisher.—Many of the greater combats in which the navy was engaged on the coast and inland have been referred to above, and the fightingbefore See also:Charleston, New See also:Orleans, See also:Mobile and See also:Vicksburg is described in separate articles. One of the heaviest of the battles was fought at Fort Fisher in 1864. This place guarded the approaches to See also:Wilmington, See also:North Carolina. Troops under See also:Butler and a large fleet under See also:Admiral See also:Porter were destined for this enterprise.

An incendiary See also:

vessel was exploded See also:close to the works without effect on the 23rd-24th of See also:December, and the ships engaged on the 24th. The next day the troops were disembarked, only to be called off of ter a partial See also:assault. Butler then withdrew, and Porter was informed on the 31st that " a competent force properly commanded " would be sent out. On the 8th of See also:January 1865 General Terry arrived with the See also:land forces, and the See also:armada arrived off Fisher on the 12th. On the 13th, 6000 men were landed, covered by the guns of the fleet, and, after Porter had subjected the works to a terrific See also:bombardment, Fisher was brilliantly carried by storm on the 15th. Reinforcements arriving, the whole force then marched inland to meet Sherman. 39. Other Naval Actions.—Apart from this, and other actions referred to, two incidents of the coast war See also:call for notice—the career of the " See also:Albemarle " and the duel between the " See also:Atlanta " and the " See also:Weehawken." The ironclad See also:ram " Albemarle," built at See also:Edwards' See also:Ferry on the See also:Roanoke river, had done considerable damage to the Federal vessels which, since See also:Burnside's expedition to Newberne, had cruised in Albemarle Sound, and in 1864 a force of double-enders and gunboats, under See also:Captain Melancton See also:Smith, U.S.N., was given the special task of destroying the rebel ram. A naval battle was fought on the 5th of May 1864, in which the double-ender " Sassacus " most gallantly rammed the " Albemarle " and was disabled alongside her, and Smith's vessel and others, unarmoured as they were, fought the ram at close quarters. After this the ironclad retired upstream, where she was eventually destroyed in the most daring manner by a See also:boat's See also:crew under See also:Lieutenant W. B. See also:Cushing.

Making his way up the Roanoke as far as See also:

Plymouth he there sank the ironclad at her See also:wharf by exploding a spar-See also:torpedo (See also:October 27). On the 17th of See also:June 1863 after a brief action the monitor" Weehawken " captured the Confederate ironclad " Atlanta " in Wassaw Sound, South Carolina. This duel resembled in its attendant circumstances the famous fight of the " Chesapeake " and the " See also:Shannon." Captain See also:John See also:Rodgers, like See also:Broke, was one of the best officers, and the " Weehawken," like the "Shannon," was known as one of the smartest ships in the service. Five heavy accurate shots from the Federal's See also:turret guns crushed the enemy in a few minutes. 40. The See also:Commerce-Destroyers.—Letters of marque were issued to Confederate privateers as See also:early as April 1861, and Federal commerce at once began to suffer. When, however, surveillance became blockade, prizes could only with difficulty be brought into See also:port, and, since the parties interested gained nothing by burning merchantmen, privateering soon died out, and was replaced bycommerce-destroying pure and See also:simple, carried out by commissioned vessels of the Confederate navy. Captain See also:Raphael Semmes of the C.S.S. "See also:Sumter" made a successful cruise on the high seas, and before she was abandoned at See also:Gibraltar had made seventeen prizes. Unable to build at See also:home, the Confederates sought warships abroad, evading the obligations of See also:neutrality by various ingenious expedients. The " See also:Florida " (built at See also:Liverpool in 1861-1862) crossed the See also:Atlantic, refitted at Mobile, escaped the blockaders, and fulfilled the instructions which, as her captain said, " See also:left much to the discretion but more to the See also:torch." She was captured by the U.S.S. " Wachusett " in the neutral harbour of See also:Bahia (October 7, 1862).

The most successful of the See also:

foreign-built cruisers was the famous " See also:Alabama," commanded by Semmes and built at Liverpool. In the course of her career she burned or brought into port seventy prizes, fought and sank the U.S.S. " Hatteras " off See also:Galveston, and was finally sunk by the U.S.S. " Kearsarge," Captain See also:Winslow, off See also:Cherbourg (June 19, 1864). The career of another promising cruiser, the " See also:Nashville," was summarily ended by the Federal monitor " Montauk " (See also:February 28, 1863). The " See also:Shenandoah" was burning Union whalers in the See also:Bering See also:Sea when the war came to an end. None of the various rams " built abroad for the " rebel " See also:government ever came into action. The difficulties of coaling and the obligations of neutrality hampered these commerce-destroyers as much as the Federal vessels that were See also:chasing them, but, in spite of drawbacks, the guerre de course was the most successful warlike operation undertaken by the Confederacy. The See also:mercantile marine of the United States was almost driven off the high seas by the terror of these destructive cruisers. 41. Cost of the War.—The See also:total loss of life in the Union forces during the four years of war was 359,528, and of the many thousands discharged from the services as disabled or otherwise unfit, a large number died in consequence of injuries or disease incurred in the army. The estimate of 560,000 in all may be taken as approximately correct.

The same number is given as that of the Southern losses, which of course fell upon a much smaller See also:

population. The war See also:expenditure of the Federal government has been estimated at $3,400,000,000; the very large sums devoted to the See also:pensions of widows, disabled men, &c., are not included in this amount (See also:Dodge). In 1879 an estimate made of all Federal war expenses up to that date, including See also:pension charges, interest on loans, &c., showed a total of $6,190,000,000 (See also:Dewey, See also:Financial See also:History of the United States). work is the Records of the Union and Confederate Navies (1894– ); The See also:Rebellion See also:Record (1862-1868), edited by F. W. See also:Moore, a contemporary collection, has been superseded to a great extent by the See also:official records, but is still valuable as a collection of unofficial documents of all kinds. Battles and Leaders of the Civil War (1887–1889) is a See also:series of papers, covering the whole war, written by the prominent commanders of both sides. The sixteen volumes of the See also:Campaigns of the Civil War (1881–1882) and the Navy in the Civil War (1883) (written by various authors) are of very unequal merit, but several of the volumes are indispensable to the study of the Civil War. Of general works the following are the best :—Comte de See also:Paris, History of the Civil War in See also:America, translated from the See also:French (1875–1888) ; See also:Horace See also:Greeley, The American Conflict (1864–1866) ; J. Scheibert, Der Biirgerkrieg i. d. Nordam. Freistaaten (See also:Berlin, 1874) ; See also:Wood and Edmonds, Civil War in the United States (See also:London, 19o5); T.

A. Dodge, See also:

Bird's See also:Eye View of our Civil War (revised edition, 1887) ; E. A. See also:Pollard, A Southern History of the War (1866). The con-temporary accounts mentioned should be studied with caution. Of See also:critical works, J. C. See also:Ropes, The See also:Story of the Civil War (1894-1898); G. F. R. See also:Henderson, Stonewall Jackson and the American Civil War (London, 1898) and The Science of War, chapters viii. and ix. (London, 1905) ; C.

C. See also:

Chesney, Essays in Military See also:Biography (1874) ; See also:Freytag-Loringhoven, Studien fiber Kriegfuhrung, 5861-5865 (Berlin, 1901-1903), are the most important. Publications of the Military See also:Historical Society of See also:Massachusetts (vols. i.-x., 1881 onwards) also comprise critical accounts of nearly all the important campaigns. A critical See also:account of the Virginian operations and the Chickamauga campaign is Gen. E. P. See also:Alexander's Military See also:Memoirs of a Confederate (1906). C. R. See also:Cooper, See also:Chronological and Alphabetical Record of the Great Civil War (See also:Milwaukee, 1904) may be mentioned as a work of reference. A fairly See also:complete bibliography will be found in J. N.

Larned, Literature of American History (See also:

Boston, 1902), and useful lists in Ropes, op. cit., and in the See also:Cambridge Modern History, vol. vii. p. 812. For See also:biographies, memoirs and general works, see the lists appended to the various See also:biographical articles and to the articles UNITED STATES and CONFEDERATE STATES. (C. F.

End of Article: CIVIL

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