Civil War Both Sides Fought

Civil War

Both sides fought hard in the Civil War, and the Union victory was far from being a foregone conclusion. Several decisive Confederate victories, including the Battle of the Seven Pines and the Second Battle of Bull Run, proved that the Confederate Army had potential to triumph. Moreover, Southern war generals superseded their Northern counterparts. In general, Confederate military leadership trumped that of the Union, and President Lincoln went through nearly a dozen army commanders in less than one year of fighting (The History Place). In fact, Lincoln had offered the highest post in the Union Army to Robert E. Lee, a West Pointe graduate whose father fought in the Revolutionary War. Lee's defection symbolized the fervor of the Confederate conviction. Fueled by a sense of injustice and united in ideology, the South quickly mastered social unity by promoting a clear-cut cause for secession. The North, although committed to the goal of the preservation of the Union, was not motivated by the preservation of a "way of life," as the South was. Especially in the opening years of the Civil War, the North was not united in the abolitionist cause. Abolitionism did not become a Union ideal until after Lincoln issued the Gettysburg Address and even then, many northerners were indifferent to or in support of slavery.

Both the North and South boasted military prowess but for different reasons. What the South lacked in artillery and naval proficiency, it made up for in human resources and leadership. Confederate generals like Robert E. Lee, Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson, and Joseph E. Johnston commanded their troops more masterfully in general than their northern counterparts. Many Civil War battles were won by the South in spite of their having troops far fewer in number. At the Second Battle of Bull Run, 55,000 Confederate soldiers defeated 75,000 Union troops, forcing their retreat to Washington, D.C. (The History Place). Harper's Ferry and Fredericksburg were, among other battles, indicative of the Confederate's fighting force. In spite of the effective Union Blockade and a population less than half that of the North, the South held their own throughout the ups and downs of the war.

The South, however, failed to solidify a victory for several key reasons. First, the South could have ushered support from Europe. As a major trading partner to both England and France, the Confederacy might have been able to use economic incentives to persuade British and French political and financial, if not military assistance. Although slavery had been abolished in Europe, the War of Secession was originally not framed as a battle for emancipation so European diplomatic support would not have suggested a conflict of interest. However, the South did not capitalize fully on its ability to woo the Continent.

Another major reason for the South's eventual defeat was the very culture it wished to preserve: the plantation economy. The agricultural-based economy might have endeared the South to Europe, to which it traded a sufficient supply of cotton. However, agriculture failed to provide the Confederacy with the industrial strength it needed to win. The North's factory-based, industrialized economy offered more ample opportunities for technological victories over the South. Furthermore, the American banking and ship-building industries were concentrated in the Northern states. Their distinct technological, logistical, and financial advantages ensured a Union victory. Even though the South boasted a successful agricultural-based economy, the North, because of its greater population, actually had three times the farm acreage and many times the production output of the South (Feldmeth). Being cut off from the South did not spell starvation for the Union, but being cut off from the Union spelled disaster for the South.

The Union's Anaconda Plan, which was formulated and put in motion almost immediately after the first shots were fired at Fort Sumter, guided Union military strategy throughout the Civil War. Calling for a complete blockade of the South to cut off the flow of goods and services from Northern factories, the Anaconda Plan was put in motion brilliantly. A stronger Navy allowed the North to enforce the blockade more effectively than the Confederacy could overcome it. The second significant part of the Anaconda Plan was similar in scope and strategic significance: to take control of the Mississippi. When the Union Army eventually did gain control of the mighty Mississippi, the South was effectively split in two. The Anaconda Plan was fulfilled. Not only did the Union have the means by which to enforce their strategies: the Confederacy also lacked as clear a military plan.

While the blockade was nearly automatic and put into place toward the beginning of the war, control over the Mississippi was harder-fought. It meant encroachment deep into Southern territory, where most of the war was fought. Not until 1863 and the Union victory at the Battle of Vicksburg did the Union manage to infiltrate the River and successfully set up its second major and decisive blockade of the South.

Unlike the North, the South did not have an advanced transportation infrastructure that would have enabled it to overcome the blockades. Cut off from supplies, the South would have benefited more from a shorter, more intense war. Most battles were fought on Southern soil, which provided both advantages and disadvantages for the Confederacy. While intimate geographical knowledge aided the Confederate generals in key military victories, the population decimation and the lack of transportation infrastructure depleted Southern resources by the end of the war. The South also lacked the naval power necessary to properly defend its coastline against the much more powerful Northern Navy.

Still, the South proved remarkably resilient. Outnumbered significantly, and outdone in terms of military resources, the South secured enough success to cripple the north and cause the war to drag on. The Civil War could have been won by the South, based on its remarkable ability to stun the Union army with its clever tactics and strong leadership. Confederate strength can be symbolized by the infamous battle between the two iron-clad ships the Monitor and the Merrimack, which ended in a draw in spite of the North's seafaring advantage. In order to win, the South would have had to bolster its military via international aide. Moreover, the South could not rely on slaves to fight in the war. They might have needed to promise freedom for the slaves in exchange for their service in battle: an unlikely plan in light of the overwhelming racism that pervaded Southern culture.