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The War in the West
Just as the causes of the Civil War are not entirely simple or straightforward, the progress of the war was anything but linear. Despite an ultimate Union victory, the Confederacy managed several periods of advancement into Union territories, and they were even more effective at maintaining a hold on their home territories. Thus, the war progressed and regressed in fits and starts at ties, and victories in one region could easily be offset by losses in another. There were several major theaters of the Civil War, and different issues and strategies led to different developments of the war in these theaters at different periods in the war. In the Western theater in the first half of 1862, the Union made a relatively rapid progression into Confederate territory against an under-funded and under-manned enemy army.
By the end of January, the Union had taken most of Kentucky in the battles of Middle Creek and Mill Springs (Concord 2008). This allowed for a Union push into Tennessee, where they began attempts to open the Mississippi River to Union supply lines while removing stretches of the river from Confederate use (McPherson 200o; Concord 2008). The victories for the Union and losses for the Confederacy were compounded by the strategic importance of many of the battle locations of this period, specifically for their relation to the Mississippi River. The Confederacy was already facing a shortage of men and supplies, and hampering their ability to use...
The Union, meanwhile, was strengthened by growing resources and reinforcements as their progress grew, allowing them to overwhelm the Confederate army at several key points (Concord 2009).
The war would not be over for several more years, but by June of 1862 a turning point had been reached that made a Union victory fairly clear, especially in the Western theater (McPherson 2000; Concord 2008). New Orleans had fallen to the Union, as had more northerly stretches of the Mississippi River, which made it highly difficult for the Confederacy to effectively wage war in the region. The Union was able to use their increased transportation opportunities and greater resources to continue overwhelming the Confederate army battle for battle, until the point of eventual victory. The Western theater played a major part in the overall Union victory, and the battles that occurred during the first half of 1862 were instrumental in creating a Union stronghold in the Western region and along the Mississippi.
References
Concord Learning Systems. (2008). "Civil war battles: Theaters of war." Accessed 22 August 2009. http://www.laughtergenealogy.com/bin/cw-battles/theaters.html#3_1862
Hickman, K. (2009). "American civil war: Causes." Accessed 22 August 2009. http://militaryhistory.about.com/od/civilwar/a/CivilWarCauses_2.htm
McPherson, J. (2000). Ordeal by fire. New York: McGraw Hill.
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