The First Year of the War

I. Eastern Campaign

A. 1st Manassas/Bull Run

1. Gen. Winfield Scott

2. The Southern "Offensive-Defensive Strategy"--the Confederate strategy largely consisted of waiting out the North, in the hope that war weariness would set in. The South relied upon their internal lines of communication and familiarity with the terrain to bring enough force to the Union point of attack to have nearly equal numbers in particular battles. When the occasion presented itself, however, Confederate forces would go on the attack in the North.

3. Aftermath of Manassas--the decisive Confederate victory fed expectations of recognition by Great Britain and France and continued success on the battlefield for the South--while steeling resolve to fight on in the North.


B. Gen. George B. McClellan--brilliant administrator, horrendous field general. Vain and self-important. McPhearson makes the point that McClellan had enjoyed nothing but success in his life--and was therefore afraid of failure, and would take no action unless he was assured of its success.

II. The Diplomatic Campaign

A. King Cotton--the South was confident that the reliance of both Great Britain and France on cotton to fuel their industrial concerns would lead those countries to intervene on behalf of the South led planters to withhold from selling cotton in 1861 to "persuade" those countries to intervene soon.


B. Union Blockade--Lincoln, while insisting that the United States was not at war with the Confederacy, nonetheless ordered a blockade of Southern ports--an action only legal as an act of war. The blockade was largely ineffectual early in the conflict, ensnaring only one out of every six or seven ships, but the effort became more efficient as the conflict continued.

1. Cotton Boycott--the Confederate government attempted to persuade the British government that the blockade was ineffective--but the effectiveness of the cotton boycott belied that fact, since little cotton was reaching British docks.

2. North as a British trading partner--the North was an important trading partner with Great Britain, as well, and this played an important role in maintaining British neutrality.

a. Trent Affair

B. Union Naval Dominance


1. Merrimac




2. USS Monitor

3. Battle between Merrimac and the Monitor

4. Capture of Roanoke Island

III. Western Campaign

A. Missouri


1. John C. Fremont

2. August 30, 1861 proclamation--to combat Confederate sympathizers, Fremont declared martial law, announced the death penalty for Confederate guerrillas caught behind Union lines, and confiscated the property and slaves of all Confederate activists in the state.

3. Lincoln admonished Fremont not to execute anyone without his approval, and also asked him to amend his proclamation to bring it in line with Congressional legislation that confiscated property--including slaves--directly used to aid the Southern war effort. Fremont's refusal led to his reassignment.

B. Controlling the"Father of the Waters"

1. The Freshwater Navy

2. Southern Forts


3. "Pook's Turtles"

4. U.S. Grant


C. Shiloh