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C H a P T E R 15 the Union Severed NASH.7654.CP15.p486-519.vpdf 9/28/05 1:34 PM Page 486 CHAPTER 15 The Union Severed Images of a safe and happy homecoming fill the dreams of Union soldiers sleeping in their camp in this paint- ing The Soldier’s Dream (c. 1865) by an unknown artist. Soldiers—both Union and Confederate—often ex- pressed their longing in their letters home. J. K. Street of the 9th Texas Infantry wrote to his wife: “I think of you so much and it is great pleasure to me to think of you and the many pleasant associations of home and it is endearments . I think of you so much thro’ the day that I dream of you at night.” In his letter of July 14, 1861—his last letter—to his wife Sarah, Major Sullivan Ballou of the 2nd Rhode Island Volunteers wrote: “The memories of the blissful moments I have spent with you come creeping over me . how hard it is for me to give them up and burn to ashes the hopes of future years when . we might still have lived and loved to- gether.” (© Atwater Kent Museum of Philadelphia, Courtesy of Historical Society of Pennsylvania Collection/Bridgeman Art Library) American Stories A War That Touched Lives In his remarks to Congress in 1862, Abraham Lincoln reminded congressmen that “We cannot escape history. We of this Congress and this administration will be 486 NASH.7654.CP15.p486-519.vpdf 9/12/05 11:48 AM Page 487 CHAPTER OUTLINE remembered in spite of ourselves. No personal significance, or insignificance, can Organizing for War spare . us.The fiery trial through which we pass, will light us down, in honor or dis- The Balance of Resources honor, to the latest generation.” Lincoln’s conviction that Americans would long re- The Border States member him and other major actors of the Civil War was correct. Jefferson Davis, Challenges of War Robert E. Lee, Ulysses S. Grant—these are the men whose characters, actions, and Lincoln and Davis decisions have been the subject of continuing discussion and analysis, whose statues and memorials dot the American countryside and grace urban squares.Whether seen Clashing on the Battlefield, as heroes or villains, great men have dominated the story of the Civil War. 1861–1862 Yet from the earliest days, the war touched the lives of even the most uncele- War in the East brated Americans. From Indianapolis, 20-year-old Arthur Carpenter wrote to his par- War in the West ents in Massachusetts begging for permission to enlist in the volunteer army: “I have Naval Warfare always longed for the time to come when I could enter the army and be a military Cotton Diplomacy man, and when this war broke out, I thought the time had come, but you would not Common Problems, Novel permit me to enter the service . now I make one more appeal to you.” The pleas Solutions worked, and Carpenter enlisted, spending most of the war fighting in Kentucky and Political Dissension, 1862 Tennessee. The Tide Turns,1863–1865 In that same year, in Tennessee, George and Ethie Eagleton faced anguishing deci- The Emancipation Proclamation, sions.Though not an abolitionist, George, a 30-year-old Presbyterian preacher,was un- 1863 sympathetic to slavery and opposed to secession. But when his native state left the Unanticipated Consequences of Union, George felt compelled to follow and enlisted in the 44th Tennessee Infantry. War Ethie, his 26-year-old wife, despaired over the war, George’s decision, and her own Changing Military Strategies, forlorn situation. 1863–1865 Mr. Eagleton’s school dismissed—and what for? O my God, must I write it? He Changes Wrought by War has enlisted in the service of his country—to war—the most unrighteous war A New South that ever was brought on any nation that ever lived. Pres. Lincoln has done what The North no other Pres. ever dared to do—he has divided these once peaceful and happy On the Home Front, 1861–1865 United States. And Oh! the dreadful dark cloud that is now hanging over our Wartime Race Relations country—’tis enough to sicken the heart of any one. Mr. E. is gone. What Women and the War will become of me, left here without a home and relatives, a babe just nine The Election of 1864 months old and no George. Why the North Won Both Carpenter and the Eagletons survived the war, but the conflict transformed The Costs of War each of their lives. Carpenter had difficulty settling down. Filled with bitter memories Unanswered Questions of the war years in Tennessee, the Eagletons moved to Arkansas. Ordinary people Conclusion: An Uncertain such as Carpenter and the Eagletons are historically anonymous.Yet their actions on Future the battlefield and behind the lines helped to shape the course of events, as their lead- ers realized, even if today we tend to remember only the famous and influential. For thousands of Americans, from Lincoln and Davis to Carpenter and the Eagletons, war was both a profoundly personal and a major national event. Its impact reached far beyond the four years of hostilities. The war that was fought to conserve two political, social, and economic visions ended by changing familiar ways of life in both North and South. War was a transforming force, both destructive and creative in its effect on the structure and social dynamics of society and on the lives of ordinary people. This theme underlies this chapter’s analysis of the war’s three stages: the initial months of preparation, the years of military stalemate between 1861 and 1865, and, finally, resolution. 487 NASH.7654.CP15.p486-519.vpdf 9/12/05 11:48 AM Page 488 488 PART 3 An Expanding People, 1820–1877 ORGANIZING FOR WAR of every window and door. In our little circle of friends, one mother has just sent away an idolized son; The Confederate bombardment of Fort Sumter on another, two; another, four. One sweet young wife is April 12, 1861, and the surrender of Union troops the packing a regulation valise for her husband today, and next day ended the uncertainty of the se- doesn’t let him see her cry. cession winter. The North’s response to Fort Sumter was a virtual declaration of The war fever produced so many volunteers that war as President Lincoln called for state neither northern nor southern officials could han- militia volunteers to crush southern “in- Confederate dle the throng. Northern authorities turned aside Flag over Fort surrection.” His action pushed several offers from blacks to serve. Both sides sent thou- Sumter slave states (Virginia, North Carolina, Ten- sands of white would-be soldiers home. The convic- nessee, and Arkansas) off the fence and tion that the conflict would rapidly come to a glori- into the southern camp. Other states (Maryland, Ken- ous conclusion fueled the eagerness to enlist. “We tucky, and Missouri) agonizingly debated which way really did not think that there was going to be an ac- to go. The “War Between the States” was now a reality. tual war,” remembered Mary Ward, a young Georgia Many Americans were unenthusiastic about the woman. “We had an idea that when our soldiers got course of events. Southerners like George Eagleton upon the ground and showed, unmistakably that reluctantly followed Tennessee out of the Union. they were really ready and willing to fight . the When he enlisted, he complained of the “disgraceful whole trouble would be declared at an end.” Lin- cowardice of many who were last winter for seces- coln’s call for 75,000 state militiamen for only 90 sion and war . but are now refusing self and means days of service, and a similar enlistment term for for the prosecution of war.” Robert E. Lee of Virginia Confederate soldiers, supported the notion that the also hesitated but finally decided that he could not war would be short. “raise [a] hand against . relatives . children . home.” Whites living in the southern uplands (where blacks were few and slaveholders were heartily dis- The Balance of Resources liked), yeoman farmers in the Deep South (who The Civil War was one of several military conflicts owned no slaves), and many border state residents during the nineteenth century that sought national were dismayed at secession and war. Many would independence. In Europe, Italian and German pa- eventually join the Union forces. triots struggled to create new nations out of indi- In the North, large numbers had supported nei- vidual states. Unlike their European counterparts, ther the Republican party nor Lincoln. Irish immi- however, southern nationalists proclaimed their grants fearing the competition of free black labor independence by withdrawing from an already and southerners now living in Illinois, Indiana, and unified state. Likening their struggle to that of the Ohio harbored misgivings. Indeed, northern De- Revolutionary generation that had broken away mocrats at first blamed Lincoln and the Republi- from Great Britain’s tyranny, southerners argued cans almost as much as southern secessionists for that they were “now enlisted in The Holy Cause of the nation’s crisis. Liberty and Independence.” While they legitimized Nevertheless, the days following Fort Sumter and secession by appealing to freedom, however, Lincoln’s call for troops saw an outpouring of support southerners were also preserving freedom’s an- on both sides, fueled in part by relief at decisive action, tithesis, slavery. in part by patriotism and love of adventure, and in part The outcome of the southern bid for autonomy by unemployment. Northern blacks and even some was much in doubt. Although statistics of popula- southern freedpeople proclaimed themselves “ready tion and industrial development suggested a north- to go forth and do battle,” while whites like Carpenter ern victory, Great Britain with similar advantages in enthusiastically flocked to enlist.
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