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American Civil War Burnside’s Bridge is a landmark on the Civil War Antietam National Battlefi eld near Sharpsburg, northwestern Maryland. The Learning History Group This month’s edition of the Learning History Group newsletter features the American Civil War. We pay our respects to our country’s most deadly confl ict with refl ections on noteworthy battles, including Gettysburg and the Siege of Port Hudson. Plus, we look at the life of a Civil War re-enactor, examine the roles of women during the war, and discuss mid-19th Century southern Printed on a Xerox® WorkCentre® 5800i Series Multifunction Printer. For more information, visit www.xerox.com/offi ce. W58PS-02UB plantation architecture. American History Th rough Civil War: Th e TOP: Daniel Coff ey, 11, surveying Burnside’s bridge at During the presidential From the fi rst shots fi red at Reenactment Antietam. MIDDLE: James Coff ey stands on the front line election of 1860, the the Union’s outpost at Fort awaiting the Confederates’ charge while Daniel provides backup. AWar Between BOTTOM: Cavalry re-enactors scout for Confederate positions. Republican Party, led Sumter, South Carolina, to H For Rochester, New York battlefi elds is a great way by Abraham Lincoln, the Confederates’ surrender resident James Coffey, a for my son and me to enjoy campaigned against at Appomattox, the Civil Th e States passion for participating spending time together,” he expanding slavery beyond War resulted in an estimated in Civil War reenactments said. “But it’s also been an the states in which it 750,000 soldier deaths and began not as a desire to eye-opener for me in terms already existed. The countless civilian lives better understand one of the of the extent to which the Republicans strongly adversely affected. most pivotal eras in U.S. Civil War still defi nes us as Th e Gettysburg Address— In just more than two advocated nationalism, A succinct speech delivered minutes, beginning with the The American Civil War history, but because the a country to this day.” and in their 1860 platform by President Abraham now-iconic phrase “Four score was one of the earliest true activities provide him with they denounced threats American Civil War Lincoln at the dedication of and seven years ago,” Lincoln industrial wars. Railroads, a tremendous opportunity to Soldiers’ National Cemetery reiterated the principles of of disunion as avowals of reenactments draw the telegraph, steamships, spend quality time pursuing on the American Civil War human equality espoused treason. After a Republican enthusiastic participants photography, and mass- a healthy outdoor hobby with battlefi eld at Gettysburg, by the Declaration of victory, but before the new willing to duplicate the produced weapons were his 11-year-old son, Daniel. Pennsylvania, November 19, Independence. He proclaimed administration took offi ce events down to the smallest 1863—remains one of the the Civil War as a struggle employed extensively. The on March 4, 1861, seven But as he and his son par- recorded detail. Participants most quoted presidential for the preservation of the practices of total war, and the cotton states declared their ticipated in more and more learn how to dress, cook, eat, speeches. Union sundered by the mobilization of civilian labor secession and joined to form reenactments, culminating in and even “die” just as real secession crisis, with “a new and fi nances all foreshadowed the Confederate States of this year’s event at Antietam, Civil War soldiers would birth of freedom,” that would World War I in Europe. bring true equality to all of America. This chain of Coffey has become a die-hard have. Most reenactments Victory for the North meant its citizens, ensuring that events set in motion what Civil War history buff. have anywhere from 100 the end of the Confederacy democracy would remain a would become America’s to 1,000 participants, and of slavery in the United “Participating in living viable form of government bloodiest and most deadly portraying either Union and creating a nation in States, and strengthened the history events at some armed confl ict. or Confederate infantry, which states’ rights were no role of the federal government. of the war’s most crucial longer dominant. artillery, or cavalry forces. Th e Civil War resulted in an estimated 750,000 soldier deaths. Port Hudson, Louisiana: America’s PLongest Siege The Siege of Port Hudson the Federals settled into occurred from May 22 to a siege that lasted for 48 July 9, 1863, when Union days. Banks renewed his Army troops assaulted assaults on June 14 but and then surrounded the the defenders successfully Mississippi River town of repelled them. On July 9, Port Hudson, Louisiana, 1863, after hearing of the fall during the American Civil of Vicksburg, the Confederate War. In cooperation with garrison of Port Hudson Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant’s surrendered, giving the offensive against Vicksburg, Union complete control of Mississippi, Union Maj. the Mississippi River and its Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks’ major tributaries, severing army moved against the communications and Confederate stronghold at trade between the eastern Map of Port Hudson and it’s Defences. Port Hudson was the Port Hudson. On May 27, and western states of the site of the longest siege in American history, lasting 48 days, 1863, after their frontal Confederacy. Th e Civil War was the when 7,500 Confederates resisted some 40,000 Union soldiers for almost two months during 1863. assaults were repulsed, fi rst major confl ict to be extensively photographed. Turning Point: Gettysburg For the fi rst time in Next year marks the 150th Virginia, ending Lee’s history, citizens on the anniversary of the Civil invasion of the North. home front could view the War’s most famous confl ict, During the battle the two the Battle of Gettysburg. The actual carnage of far away armies suffered between confl ict was fought July 1–3, 46,000 and 51,000 1863, in and around the town battlefi elds. Crystal-clear casualties. of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. black-and-white photographs It was the battle with the Today, the Gettysburg largest number of casualties National Cemetery and were truly dramatic, in the American Civil War Gettysburg National and is often described as Military Park are stripping away much of the war’s turning point. maintained by the U.S. the Victorian-era romance Union Maj. Gen. George National Park Service as Gordon Meade’s Army of the two of the nation’s around warfare. Potomac defeated attacks most revered historical by Confederate Gen. Robert landmarks. Gettysburg National Military Park E. Lee’s Army of Northern Women Sanitary Commission. The Sanitary Commission’s primary objective was to combat preventable diseases and infections Of War by improving conditions in army camps and hospitals. It also worked to provide relief to sick and wounded soldiers. W By war’s end, the Sanitary Commission had provided almost $15 million in supplies—the vast majority of which With the outbreak of war in 1861, women and men alike had been collected by women—to the Union Army. eagerly volunteered to fi ght for the cause. In the Northern states, women organized ladies’ aid societies to supply the Nearly 20,000 women worked more directly for the Union Union troops with everything they needed, from food to war effort. Working-class white women and free and clothing to cash. enslaved African-American women worked as laundresses, cooks and “matrons,” and some 3,000 middle class white But many women wanted to take a more active role in the - women worked as nurses. The activist Dorothea Dix, war effort. They tried to fi nd a way to work on the front the superintendent of Army nurses, put out a call for lines, caring for sick and injured soldiers and keeping the responsible, maternal volunteers who would not distract rest of the Union troops healthy and safe. the troops or behave in unseemly or unfeminine ways: Dix In June 1861, they succeeded: The federal government insisted that her nurses be “past 30 years of age, healthy, agreed to create “a preventive hygienic and sanitary plain almost to repulsion in dress and devoid of personal service for the benefi t of the army” called the United States attractions.” Antebellum AArchitecture Antebellum means “before war” in Latin. The term Many southern plantations to this day bear the scars of the Civil Antebellum architecture refers to elegant plantation War, including the one pictured above, located in Virginia on homes built in the American South during the 30 years or the Manassas battlefi eld, with a cannonball now a part of the so preceding the Civil War. Antebellum is not a particular exterior detailing. house style. Rather, it is a time and place in history. The Nearly 20,000 women features we associate with Antebellum architecture were introduced to the American South by Anglo-Americans who worked more directly for moved into the area after the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. Most Antebellum homes are grand, symmetrical, and boxy, the Union war eff ort. with center entrances in the front and rear, balconies, and columns or pillars. The Learning History Group.
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