The Battle

The battle of the wilderness was the bloodiest battle in the civil war.  Over tens thousand people died, four hundred people burned,  And two hundred people suffercated.  The opening battle of Grant’s, sustained offensive against the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia known as the Overland Campaign, was fought at the Wilderness, May 5th thru 7th in1864.

There were many major events that occurred in the state of Texas, but none of them were as disastrous as the ones that happened in the Civil War. The Civil War was the war with the most American deaths. Many battles happened in Texas, but in the Civil War there were many significant battles that took place in Texas.

On March 2, 1861 Texas became the seventh state to join the new Confederacy. Texas played a part in the war which this and all future generations of Texans can be justly proud of. Its people gave their full measure of courage and devotion to the cause. Texas forces distinguished themselves throughout the war in numerous ways, however one of the most significant was the state proving itself to be all but impregnable to the Union. During the course of the Civil War, the Union tried four times to take a foothold in the State of Texas.

On 15 January, Porter continued to be in position to provide their most massive bombardment yet in preparation for the attack. At noon, 1600 sailors and 400 marines executed the ground assault along the beach about a mile and a half north of the fort. By 1500 the marines’ new position was now unable to effectively provide cover for the ensuing assault and failed to keep the Confederate riflemen off the fort’s parapet. As 1500 passed, the sailors quickly became restless for the army’s attack signal. Not waiting for visual confirmation of the army’s attack as directed, 1600 sailors ran across the open beach, and the naval attack very quickly became a rout. The sailors with only their pistols and cutlasses were no match for the Confederate riflemen, canister, and grape. After only 20 minutes the assault was repulsed, with the men retreating in droves, leaving over three hundred dead or wounded sailors and marines. Many of the wounded were left to drown in the rising tide. This was not the outcome Admiral Porter’s had envisioned.

When you hear about the civil war and what caused the feud between the North and the South many people believe it was due to slavery. Too some individuals however, this claim is considered a misconception. James Rhodes was amongst those people who didn’t believe slavery had been the main cause, instead he believed in the Impending Crisis, which was the belief that the cause of the civil war was due to aspects other than slavery such as the difference in views economically, socially, and politically between the colonies. Rhodes stated in his seven-volume History of the United States the Compromise of 1850 that “the moral conflict over slavery, had suggested as well that the struggle also reflected fundamental differences between the Northern and Southern economic systems” (380). The North compared to the South was extremely advanced economically, due to entering the industrial revolution. Northern sectionalists had about two times as much man power as the south, and were open to the idea of advancement in technology such as, railroads and factories. The South was contempt with the life they had been living due to agricultural incomes from products like tobacco and cotton. Money was being made for the South without people having to do anything because slaves had done all the work to make the citizens of the South revenue. This comfort of living is what did not prompt the South to enter the industrial revolution, they rather just stick to the basics

Confederates enter the war with a belief that would also sustain them during war years and ultimately shape the south after the war, a durable belief in their invincibility. Even after major turning points of the war, diehard Rebels continued to express a resilient belief in their invincibility. They were unconquerable and they truly stuck it about because they expected to win. Their ethos; beliefs of being highly favored children of God, attitudes of invincibility (homegrown and those spread through propaganda), patriotism, masculinity, and veteran comradery - on many different levels help to shape the war and the New South.

Along the way, they encountered a three headed dragon that wanted what little food they had!

As the first major battle of the Civil War the First Battle of Bull Run was an end to the illusions of a quick war and instead was a first glimpse of into the long and bloody four-year struggle the Civil War would become. In this paper the battle and its many repercussions across the political, social and military spectrum of the Union and Confederacy will be explored.

On the early morning of April 12, 1861 at 4:30 am, Confederates were the first to fire shots at Fort Sumter, which in turn ignited the tragic, bloody, American Civil War. The Civil War caused brothers to fight against brothers, over 600,000 deaths, and ended slavery. The Confederates, however, did not just too randomly decide to bombard Fort Sumter out of the blue. Prior to the attack, there was many years of tension that had led up to that moment. The cause of the Civil War had a lot more to it than just one reason. The confederates wanted to secede because of slavery, economics, conflicting cultures, and extremism.

It is evident that the Civil War helped shape America into the country it is today. The strong factional division -based on slavery- between the Union and the Confederacy guaranteed certain achievements of both sides. Much of what we consider history today remains a part of the outcome from these multiple bloody battles. Activist John Muir of the Civil War-era stated, “the traces of war are not only apparent on the broken fields, burnt fences, mills, and woods ruthlessly slaughtered, but also on the countenances of the people” (page 535). Changes were noticeable throughout the nation. Due to the Civil War, the United States advanced its technology, showed true power from a federal, and how sympathetic political understanding helped the nation.

In 1861 the Civil War began, but the cause of the war began decades before with a societal struggle of slavery between North and South. The societal influences that lead up to the Civil War consisted of five distinct events, all intertwined with one another. The societal events began with the rise of Black churches, and led to abolitionists creating the Compromise of 1850, to fighting in Bleeding Kansas, to a ground-breaking Supreme Court ruling, and ultimately to armed abolitionists attempting to incite a slave rebellion.

The date is July 6, 1944. A young Solider in his early 20’s armed with a pair of wire cutters, a rifle, and explosives makes his way through Omaha Beach, through countless obstacles (Kennedy, 2012). This young Solider has a very important job. Behind him are thousands of infantrymen, desperately fighting their way up a hill; it is up to him to clear the way. However, In front of him are rows of mines, hedgehogs, wire obstacles, and barricades. He must complete these tasks all while receiving heavy fire. You see he is no ordinary Soldier, he is a Combat Engineer, and what he does here today will change the tides of the war forever (Kennedy, 2012). This engineer is well trained and comes from a long line of warriors who have paved the way for him, laying down the groundwork for what he must accomplish here today.

Although the Civil War is nearly 150 years the effects are continuously evident. For many the Civil War is still very prevalent in their everyday lives. That being said the effects are different now for different groups of people. For some the war has become a simple part of the past, for others their ties to the war have been warped by time, and still others feel the sting of the war as if it happened yesterday.

We did. The screams and cries of the maimed and dying wailed among the incoherent shouts of rage from the combatants. Unhappily, we couldn’t avert our eyes from those on the ground. We had to eliminate any potential threat from backstabbing foes with mercy strokes. Painstakingly, we worked our way to the front of our advancing line. It was grim business to see more Wolves dead on the ground, which caused a bitter taste to fill my mouth. My sword returned to its business and I lost track of how long we spilled the Raider’s blood.

were walking out, there was an eerie silence among them. When they got supplies, they went