During the Civil War the Mississippi River was not only vital for military purposes, but also civilian life. The Mississippi River was an easy way to move troops, supplies, and equipment. In the civilian world it allowed farmers to trade crops and was vital to the economy in both the north and south. In fact President Lincoln feared that northern farmers would side with the south in order ensure movement of crops and resources to sustain life for their families (Gabel, 2013). However, Midwestern states understood the critical important to winning Vicksburg and Midwestern states like Illinois provides 36,000 troops in support of the campaign for the Mississippi River (Gabel, 2013). Access to the Mississippi was not always easy due to the surrounding
In capturing Vicksburg, the Union had severed the Confederates into two halves entirely removing the Trans-Mississippi from the Confederate war effort. Removing the Trans-Mississippi from the war fatally crippled the South as the Trans-Mississippi had contained “nearly one million horses, 800,000 oxen, over 300,000 mules, and millions of cattle. The area was likewise a source of manpower. During the course of the war Texas furnished 58,000 men for Confederate armies, Louisiana provided 53,000, and Arkansas sent 45,000. Missouri and Indian Territory did not secede from the Union, but nonetheless sent 40,000 and 5,000 men, respectively, into rebel service.” (Prushankin, 2015). All of this and more, including huge quantities of molasses, cane sugar, sheep, oxen, cattle, mules, sweet potatoes, butter, wool, and salt, were transported through Vicksburg, until its surrender (Civil War Trust, n.d.). The capitulation of Vicksburg eliminated all of these supplies from the Southern war effort and wreaked havoc on the already struggling war machine of the South to provide food, arms and men to the army. Moreover, the loss of Vicksburg as an access route across the Mississippi cut off all of the Confederacy’s imports from Europe (Franklin, 2013). Routed through Mexico, European guns and machinery managed to partly offset the South's lack of industry and arms manufacturing businesses (Civil War Trust, n.d.). When this supply of new guns and machinery was ended, the South was forced to rely solely on its own insufficient manufacturing capabilities. The lack of new weapons and munitions factories would severely hinder the success of Southern armies as they struggled to keep their troops armed and ready to fight. Lastly, when the Union, by capturing Vicksburg, seized control of the Mississippi River or aptly called by biographer Lloyd Lewis “The spinal column of
damages happen during civil war in America Savannah Campaign when General William, T Sherman troops moved from Atlanta to capture the port of Savannah on December 1864. The force destroyed the confederate military targets and other infrastructures such as industries, civilian properties, railroad and rail stations, and disrupt the confederacy’s economy and its transportation networks in order to hinder the logistics movements and enemy reinforcement to bring the war to an
The Union could use the Mississippi for bombarding cities in which they were fighting, and to move troops to where they were needed. It would also cut the South in half. Texas, Louisiana, and Arkansas would be cut off from the rest of the South. 75,000 Union forces
For the Confederacy, control of the lower Mississippi River was vital to the union of the Southern states. The Mississippi
The capture of mighty and powerful Mississippi River was the result of three of the battles of the Civil War. The Battle of Vicksburg, the Battle of New Orleans, and the Battle of Shiloh. These three battles were important to the success of the Union Army without them we probably would not have won the war. The battles are very interesting, complex, and cruel but wars are wars and a lot of people
In the beginning of the campaign to Vicksburg, the Union wants to control all the Mississippi river so they could divide the Confederacy in half so supplies could not go to or come from the western states. The Union could also us control of the river to send supplies to the northern states along the Mississippi river. The union’s strategy in this campaign was superior to the Confederate strategy.
The American Civil War was a war that divided the nation, pitting brother against brother, son against son. For four long years this war would drag on. At one point President Lincoln believe that only if the Union could capture and control one key terrain the war could be brought to an end. Nestle between Cairo, Illinois, and the Gulf of Mexico, lays the Mississippi River twisting and winding for roughly a 1,000 miles. This river will prove to be a vital area for whomever controlled it. Siting more than 200 feet high, the city of Vicksburg, Mississippi overlooked the river on the Louisiana-Mississippi state border. The Confederate control of this area gave them an ideal
It was important to have access to this River for both sides because of how crucial this river was for the south to succeed in winning the war. If the Union where to gain control of the Mississippi they would cut off much of the food production and trade that the south relied on. “The western campaign focused on taking control of the Mississippi River…cut off…sources of food production.”
The Civil War began in 1861 and left many white Mississippians in permanent mourning for lost loved ones. (3) The war hit close to home due to volunteer companies recruiting locally. Almost everyone knew someone fighting within the war. (41) As of 1861, the blood of Mississippians had not been spilled on Mississippi soil; however, that was about to be altered. (57) One of the first towns in Mississippi to be
The Civil War began in 1861 and left many white Mississippians in permanent mourning for lost loved ones. (3) The war hit close to home due to volunteer companies recruiting locally. Almost everyone knew someone fighting within the war. (41) As of 1861, the blood of Mississippians had not been spilled on Mississippi soil; however, that was about to be altered. (57) One of the first towns in Mississippi
The twentieth state of the United States had quite some history to go through, starting with what is its name, the natives that started and the slave trade that led to the unwanted war of America. Mississippi brought a lot nationalism which brought a lot of social inequality. This essay will lightly cover the background and history that Mississippi holds.
The war produced about 1,030,000 casualties, including about 620,000 soldier deaths—two-thirds by disease, and 50,000 civilians. The war accounted for roughly as many American deaths as all American deaths in other U.S. wars combined.
A Civil War is a battle between the same citizens in a country. The American Civil War was fought from 1861 to 1865 to determine the independence for the Confederacy or the survival of the Union. By the time Abraham Lincoln was elected president in 1861, in the mist of 34 states, the constant disagreement caused seven Southern slave states to their independence from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America. The Confederacy, generally known as the South, grew to include eleven states. The states that remained devoted to the US were known as the Union or the North. The number one question that is never completely understood about the Civil War is what caused the war. There were multiple events that led to the groundbreaking, bloody, and political war.
In 1861, a horrific war began. Nobody had any idea that this war would become the deadliest war in American history. It wasn’t a regular war, it was a civil war opposing the Union in the North and the Confederate States in the South.. The Civil War cost many people’s lives on the battlefield and beyond. In addition it cost an extreme amount of money for the nation which possibly could have been avoided if the war had turned to happen a little differently.
Abraham Lincoln once stated “America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.” Abraham Lincoln is a hero for the citizens of America because his determination and courage to ending slavery even if it meant war caused peace in this nation. Slavery was the vital cause of the American Civil War. The north and the south both had their differences on how to run the country. People in the North believed in unity and that slavery should not exist because “all men are created equally.” On the other hand, the South believed in continuing slavery. People tried to talk it out and come to a middle ground after both sides compromising, however that didn’t work and caused war. Ideological differences were a vital role to making the American Civil War an inevitable event.