Whitman’s Use of Extended Metaphor in O Captain! My Captain!

It was well believed until Jackson’s forces began unloading rounds on the Union army stopping McDowell’s forces from advancing, holding the line like “a stone wall.” As the new Union recruits witnessed battle for the first time and felt the lack of preparation, they were quick to retreat back to Washington DC. The Southern victory and the tens of thousands of lives lost proved to the Union that this war was not going to be easily won.

Despite the lack of economic and political power, the South was also at a loss of collective will. Certainly the course of the war, the military events, had a lot to do with the loss of will. The Southerners hoped that they would win spectacular victories on Northern soil, and that they would be able to exhaust the will of the Northern people, and they failed to do so. The battle of Gettysburg with the largest number of casualties is often described as the war’s turning point. The Union defeated attacks lead by Confederate General Robert E. Lee, ending Lee's invasion of the North. With regard to military turning points, the outcome of the war also became inevitable in November 1864 with the reelection of Lincoln and the utter determination to see the things through, and the finding of leader U.S. Grant, the man to

Americans had been engaged in a Civil War which had been begun in April of 1861 with shots fired on a fort in South Carolina. In the summer of 1863 in a small town called Gettysburg, there would be a fierce battle fought between the Union Army of the Potomac led by General George G. Meade and the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia led by General Robert E. Lee. The events of the battle would overcome the losses suffered by the Union and put the Confederacy on the run. “Over 165,000 men would converge, and before the fighting ended, the ground would run red with blood. The battle was fierce, and the casualties proved it. But the casualties that resulted would not be in vain, at least for the Union; the formidable power

It can be debated where exactly the Union was able to claim its victory during the War Between the States. Most people could narrow the turning point in the war to Gettysburg and Vicksburg. The battle of Gettysburg was a very tragic loss for the South, but the battle at Vicksburg was the largest victory for the North. In this lone battle, the Union created an economic problem for the South. The Union Army’s troops, helped by gunboats and river ironclads took control over the Mississippi River. This action virtually split the Confederate territory in two while also seizing control over the South 's main artery of transport. When Vicksburg fell to Union troops on July 4, 1863, the Confederacy lost its last chance to control the Mississippi River.

Despite being outnumbered by the Union, General Robert E. Lee and the Confederates managed to come out on top of every battle. This definitely boosted the confidence that the Confederate soldiers had; they felt unbeatable. The Confederacy won the First and Second Battles at Bull Run, and the battles at Shiloh and Chancellorsville.

Over the course of several years there were thousands of battles fought in the American Civil war. Many of these battles were fought at the same time throughout the country. Two of these battles in particular ended at the same time, The fall of Vicksburg and the Battle of Gettysburg. The Union won both of these Battles, giving them an advantage over the south. These 2 defeats gave the union the upper hand because the south retreated and that was the last time they attacked the north. They retreated from gettysburg to vicksburg.

Their army lost about 3,550 soldiers in three days, whether they were killed, wounded in battle, or missing. (document B) If the Confederate Army lost any more soldiers, how would they be able to win this battle, nevertheless the Civil War? The Union Army is suffering losses, but not as dramatic as the Confederate. In the three day Battle of Gettysburg, the Confederate army had ⅓ of its soldiers die in battle.

The Battle of Gettysburg has often been referred to as the turning point of the Civil War. The Union Army had lost many battles to the Confederate Army as the Confederates pushed their way North. General Robert E. Lee was over confident that he could invade the North and defeat the Union Army in their territory. His over confidence may have been his downfall. The second day of battle proved to be the most fierce and deadly of the conflict. It involved heavy maneuvering of troops into positions, and confusion on both sides of the conflict as well as significant casualties between the two armies. The Union forces which the authoritive figure was General Meade, he had around 60,000 troops while the Confederates commanded by General Longstreet had 50,000 troops. There are several things that we learned from

The Union side was led by George G. Meade and the Confederates were led by Robert E Lee. The Union side had 93,921 soldiers and suffered 23,049 casualties. The Confederate side had 71,699 soldiers and suffered 28,063 casualties. The Union won and this was the last battle to ever be fought on Union soil. The loss had a huge impact on the Confederates because they lost all hope of ever being recognized as a sovereign nation. It also had a negative impact on their economy. It put the Confederates in a defensive mode and they would never again invade the Union. If they had won this battle, they could’ve surrounded or even conquer the Union’s capital Washington

The Civil War was a bloody four-year long war between the United States of America, also known as the Union, and the seceded Confederate States of America, also known as Confederacy. Though the start of the war could possibly tell the outcome of the war, the Union ended up pushing through and won the Civil War, bringing back a wholesome United States. But why did the South lose to the Union? At the start of the war, the Confederates were winning a large amount of battles. However, “the Union advantages in manpower (a five-to-two edge), draft animals, and industrial capacity suggest that Union victory was inevitable” (Sheehan-Dean).

Despite those loses the Union army was able to redeem themselves in the battle of Fort Henry and Donelson and Shiloh. Their manpower and their economic advantage showed in all three of the important battles favoring the Union winning the war.

Within a short amount of time after the election of Abraham Lincoln to the office of presidency, the south had seceded from the Union and brought on the beginning of the American Civil War. In 1863, the third year of the war, Lincoln had given a speech of the sacred battle ground at Gettysburg, most notably called the Gettysburg Address. In it, he expressed sincerity for those who fought and died there and most of all, proclaimed his aims of war itself. Walt Whitman, a celebrated poet of the time, traveled from hospital to hospital witnessing the operations of wounded soldiers and also the horrific scenes of death and amputation. His views were very much different than those of Abraham Lincoln and though not evident, were still noticeable

America experienced profound changes during the mid 1800’s. New technologies and ideas helped the nation grow, while the Civil War ripped the nation apart. During this tumultuous period, two great American writers captured their ideas in poetry. Their poems give us insight into the time period, as well as universal insight about life. Although polar opposites in personality, Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman created similar poetry. Dickinson’s “Hope is a Thing with Feathers” and Whitman’s “O Captain! My Captain!” share many qualities.

Walt Whitman, a poet, celebrated himself and his connection with the world by writing “Song of Myself” in 1855. “Throughout the poem, Whitman probes the question of how large the new democratic self can become before it dissipates into contradiction and fragmentation, and each time he seems to reach the limit, he dilates even more” (Forsythe). The poem shaped the idea of what it meant to be an American, by bringing citizens together. It also foreshadowed the Civil War, which began in 1961. In “Song of Myself,” Whitman’s themes of individualism and carpe diem developed from the transcendentalist movement.

Dedicating countless hours to the war and politics before President Lincoln’s death, Whitman strained to restore the Union as a whole. Feeling obligated to participate in the war effort, Whitman secured a government position making “regular visit[s] [to] soldiers in war hospitals”(Constantkis). Whitman also participated in the Free Soil Party, a rising opposition to the progression and spread of slavery, and wrote political commentaries in his effort to strengthen the Union. These undertakings not only aided the Union, but also brought Whitman closer to his idol, Lincoln, who also wanted to preserve the Union. Devastated by the assassination of President Lincoln, Walt Whitman wrote “O Captain! My Captain!,” “This Dust Was Once the Man,” and