Battle Of Wilson's Creek Essay

The three day battle was action packed from start to finish. It all started at about 5:30 am, with a single shot fired over Marsh Creek. After a single shot, all hell broke loose. The Union suffered important losses, most notably the loss of General Reynolds. General Lee arrived on the battlefield near noon, after receiving word of the battle. A single Confederate division drove back two Union brigades, who retreated to Cemetery Hill. General Lee decided to attack the Union soldiers at Cemetery Hill to prohibit reinforcements. General Ewell declined the option to attack, and the first day of battle came to an end. Meanwhile, the Union gathered reinforcements as General Lee feared.

During September 9th of 1862 Confederate forces led by Gen. Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson commanded three divisions with the goal of seizing Harpers Ferry. At the time Harpers Ferry was a Union occupied town bordering Maryland and Virginia. For the Union front this was a main arsenal holding area that provided support to other forces. For the Confederates, they saw it as a major supply line allowing logistics to travel down south or north through the use of rail road systems. COL Dixon Miles, the Union commander at Harpers Ferry, received intelligence about the movement of enemy forces towards his location.

A lot a favoritism was shown towards some states such as Missouri, Utah, New Mexico, and Texas. Meanwhile some unfair decisions were made in regards to Maine and California. In order to build to a perfect Union, one needs to be considerate towards everyone’s happiness and satisfaction. But as long as sectionalism is around, those two things will never be acquired. Big expansions such the Louisiana Purchase, Annexation of Texas, and the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo significantly brought a rise in sectionalism. Last but not least, in order to expand the Union many displeasing and biased decisions were

The northern part of the United States and the southern part of the United States separated because they disagreed on each other’s opinion regarding slavery. The Union was against slavery and the Confederacy was supporting slavery for their benefits. The first battle of the Civil War began when the Confederates bombarded Fort Sumter, South Carolina. The Union had surrendered Fort Sumter after 34 hours of intense fighting. Lincoln then decided that the army should move against the Confederacy near Bull Run. The Confederacy once again destroyed the Union. Lincoln wanted to switch out McClellan with General John Pope who had won several wars in the West before. Unfortunately Pope was more boastful than resourceful, and General Lee quickly defeated the Union in the second Battle of Bull Run. After that defeat, Lincoln quickly reinstated McClellan as commander of the Union

After this incident Lincoln declared that all of the remaining states in the Union should send their troops to recapture the forts that the Southerners had taken. Most Northerners thought their troops were supreme and they thought that a quick and brutal victory would stop the rebellion. Because of this Lincoln only called for volunteers for 90 days. This made four more states secede, one of them was the conceited state Virgina, and

Grant ruined this plan by occupying the city. On Nov. 7, 1861, his troops drove the Confederates from Belmont, Missouri, but the enemy rallied and retook the position. In January 1862, Grant persuaded his commanding officer, General Henry W. Halleck, to allow him to attack Fort Henry, on the Tennessee River. As Grant's army approached Fort Henry, most of the Confederates withdrew.

Since Missouri’s population was composed of 16 percent slaves, it would be admitted as a slave state therefore upsetting the balance in favor of the south. Northerners didn’t like this because Missouri was at the same latitude as the free states of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, and because of this they feared that it would set a precedent for slave states coming more north. The north and south continued to argue and argue over the issue of slavery. The north accused the south of trying to extend the institution of slavery and the south said that the north was conspiring to destroy the Union and end slavery. To resolve this crisis, congress passed a series of agreements that became known as the Missouri Compromise, which smoothed over the crisis. In 1820, Congress admitted Maine as a free state and Missouri as a slave state in order to balance the number of free and slave states and to keep order between the north and south. Also, it prohibited slavery in the remainder of the Louisiana Purchase north of the southern boundary of Missouri. This compromise soon fell apart after it was passed. Missouri drafted its own Constitution saying that free blacks were prohibited from entering their territory. Because of this provision, which was against the federal Constitution stating that citizens of one state were entitled to the same rights as citizens of other states, antislavery northerners

The Missouri Compromise was only important for preserving the Union for that small period of time. This is evident through the fact that the Compromise of 1850, Fugitive Slave Law, and other debates occurred even after the Missouri Compromise. Many Americans agreed that slavery would be the issue that led the United States to a civil war and the Missouri Compromise was one of many events that delayed the war.

The Missouri Compromise was an effective temporally political compromise in reducing sectional tensions prior to the Civil War because it preserved a balance between the Northern and Southern states. In 1819, United States concluded with an equal number eleven slave and free states. However, settlers petitioned for Missouri as a slave state for its large population and became the first state to apply that was completely from the Louisiana purchase. Many opposed of Missouri as a free state due to the imbalance of states. This was resolved by admitting Missouri as a slave state and Maine

Finally, the issue of “Bloody Kansas” was a major political factor caused by westward expansion. Once it was resolved that Kansas’s stance on slavery would be determined by popular sovereignty, people flocked to Kansas to make their vote count. The “Border Ruffians” won the controversial vote, which resulted in Kansas being a slave state. However, the abolitionists refused to recognize the pro-slavery government, so they set up a second provincial government in Topeka, Kansas. This episode led to a skirmish between the Ruffians and the abolitionists, like in Lawrence, Kansas in May of 1856. This was a prelude to the actual civil war and showed that even if there was a “fair” vote to determine a Territories slave law, it didn’t mean that all the people would abide by the law. These political episodes involving the ever expanding west showed the weakness of the Union.

There had been many wonderful misunderstanding between North and South in the years that led up to the Civil War, but the most tragic misunderstanding of all was that neither side realized, until it was too late, that the other side was desperate. Not until the war had actually begun would men see that their rivals really meant to fight? By that time it was too late to do anything but go on fighting. Southerners had been talking secession for many years, and most people in the North had come to look on such talk as a counter in the game of politics.

     As the Union Army approached Bull Run, General Johnston’s army faked an attack at Harpers Ferry. As the 18,000 Union troops dug in for assault, the Southern forces jumped on rail cars and headed for Bull Run to reinforce the Confederate Army.

By the first evening advance elements of the army reached Fairfax courthouse. The few Confederate pickets there quickly retreated. On the 18th the first elements reached the hamlet of Centerville. A brigade was sent out from Centerville to reconnoiter the confederate lines, they found the confederates and lost 80 men. General McDowell brought up the balance of his forces.

This complicated war full of bloodshed and death started merely by an assault of a Confederate left flank. Deemed the single most deadly day in American military history, the Union (who had more men) swept many attacks towards the Confederate army. Even though the South had more spirit and useful tactics the sheer numbers of the Union made this battle one to remember. They fought for many hours in Miller's cornfield to then make a last stand at Antietam Creek. With the only sign of cover being trees and the stone bridge which was worn by bullets and bodies you could tell this fight was going to be bad. The Union captured the bridge and with a final push and counter attack from another Union division the Union were victorious and were another

     The first battle of the Civil War occurred on April 10, 1861 when Brigadier General Beauregard demanded the surrender of Fort Sumter. The commander of the fort, Major Anderson, refused. Two days later Confederate artillery came crashing down on the fort. On