THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR
1861-1865
THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES
On April 12, 1861, Confederate forces under the command of General Pierre G.T. Beauregard opened fire on Fort Sumter, South Carolina, commanded by Major Robert Anderson. It was an intense but bloodless 34 hour bombardment. When the Union surrendered they asked for and received permission to fire a 50 gun salute in honor of our flag. Unfortunately, one of the cannons exploded and killed a Union soldier - the first soldier to die in the war.
The bloodiest war in American history had started. Before it ended four years later over 600,000 soldiers would die. The population of the country (north and south) was 31 million. Almost every American family had a relative that became a casualty in the war. (1) of the country to threaten to leave the Union. During Shay's rebellion. Congress authorized Federal forces but they were never used. Later, States west of the Appalachians were discontent.
With the election of President Lincoln things had came to a head.
On January 5, 1861 President Buchanan sent the unarmed steamer STAR OF THE WEST with supplies to Fort Sumter.
On January 9, she was fired upon and returned to New York without delivering the needed good.
On March 4,1861, President Lincoln was inaugurated and stated, " Physically
speaking we cannot separate ... No State, upon its own mere action, can lawfully get out of the Union." (3). With the firing on Fort Sumter, Lincoln declared an insurrection existed and called for 75,000 volunteers. With Lincoln's call for volunteers, the four States of the upper south - Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Arkansas left the Union. The four States left the Union to defend the right of the seven lower south states to leave (Florida, South Carolina, Georgia, Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, Texas). The border states of Delaware, Maryland, Missouri, and Kentucky remained nominally loyal to the Union. Kentucky tried to follow a policy of neutrality. West Virginia broke away from Virginia to remain loyal to the Union and became a state in 1863. The reason for going to war in April, 1861, was to restore the Union. After the battle of
Antietam (September 17, 1862, the bloodiest DAY in American history - nearly 23,000 soldiers were killed, wounded, or missing *) (4) did President Lincoln expand the reasons for fighting. France and England were close to recognizing the Confederate States of America. The Emancipation Proclamation was issued which would free the slaves - in States in rebellion against the Union - in early 1863. (5)
Old Chestnut Grove Cemetery is the resting place of some of the soldiers that went to the war.
Among the soldiers are:
Lorenzo B. Adams, Co."B", 1st Ohio Light Volunteer Artillery; and
88th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry
John C. Bradford, 19th Ohio Volunteer Infantry
Frederick W. Broady, Co. "E", 23rd Ohio Volunteer Infantry
George W. Brown, Co "E", 1st. Michigan Cavalry
Elisha Cook, Co. "C", 8th Ohio Volunteer InfantryEdward Damp, Co. "K", 19th Ohio Volunteer Infantry
John G. Fitch 2nd Lt., Co IF, 150 Ohio Volunteer Infantry
Herbert O. Fitch, Co. "I", 15thy Ohio Volunteers Infantry
Edward Wade Kidney, 19th Indépendant Battery, Ohio Light Artillery
Henry B. Northrop, 103rd Ohio Volunteer Infantry
Dominique Simon, 13th Louisiana Volunteer Infantry, CSA
Hiram A. Vaughn, Drummer, Co.
65th Ohio Volunteer Infantry
James Wright, 21st New York Artillery
They gave months and years of their lives to earn at one time - the undying gratitude of a thankful nation. Monuments and markers were built in their honor. Who remembers and honors their sacrifices today (2022)?
*Antietam was fought in one day. The Battle of Gettysburg had 51,000 casualties over three days - July 1 - 3, 1863.
1. BATTLE MAPS OF THE CIVIL WAR, p.5
2. 10th AMENDMENT, U.NITED STATES CONSTITUTION
3. ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN HISTORY, p.229.
4. LANDSCAPE TURNED RED, p.296.
5. DECISIVE BATTLES OF THE MIL WAR, p.105.
SOURCES
BATTLE MAPS OF THE CIVIL WAR Versa Press, East Peoria, Illinois, 2019.
CAMPAIGNS OF THE CIVIL WAR, Thomas Yoseloff, 1963
DECISIVE BATTLES OF THE CIVIL WAR, Lt. Col. Joseph B. Mitchell, 1955.
DEFEATING LEE.Lawrence A. Kreiser, Jr., Indiana University Press, Bloomington, 2011.
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN HISTORY, Harper and Row, New York, Richard B.Morris, 1965.
EYEWITNESS TO THE CIVIL WAR, National Geographic, May, 2012.
LANDSCAPE TURNED RED, THE BATTLE OF ANTIETAM, Stephen W. Sears, Tichnor & Fields, New Haven, 1983.
MALICE TOWARD NONE; ABRAHAM LINCOLN Jack E. Levin, Threshold Editions, New York, 2014.
OFFICIAL MILITARY ATLAS OF THE CIVIL WAR, Major George B. Davis et al, 1983.
A PICTORIAL HISTORY OF THE CIVIL WAR YEARS, Paul M. Angle, Doubleday, Garden City, New York, 1967.
May 2022