Page 374 - American Stories, A History of the United States

and maintaining devotion to the Union effort, these political skills were crucial. When
a majority of the party came around to the view that freeing the slaves was neces- 15.1
sary to the war effort, Lincoln complied with their wishes while minimizing the disen-
chantment of the conservative minority. Lincoln held the party together by persuasion,
patronage, and flexible policymaking; this cohesiveness was essential to Lincoln’s suc- 15.2
cess in unifying the nation by force.
Jefferson Davis, most historians agree, was a less effective war leader. He defined
his powers as commander in chief narrowly and literally, which meant he personally 15.3
directed the armed forces but left policymaking for mobilizing and controlling the
civilian population primarily to the Confederate Congress. Unfortunately, he overesti-
mated his capacities as a strategist and lacked the tact to handle field commanders who 15.4
were as proud and testy as he was.
Davis’s greatest failing, however, was his lack of initiative and leadership in dealing
with the home front. He devoted little attention to a deteriorating economic situation
that caused great hardship and sapped Confederate morale. Although division and
disloyalty were more serious in the South than in the North, he was extremely cautious
in his use of martial law.
As the war dragged on, Davis’s support eroded. State governors who resisted conscrip-
tion and other policies that violated the tradition of states’ rights opposed and obstructed Quick Check
him. Southern newspapers and the Confederate Congress attacked Davis’s conduct of the In what ways did Lincoln assume
war. His authority was further undermined because he did not have an organized party stronger executive powers than a
behind him, for the Confederacy never developed a two-party system. As a result, it was peacetime president, and was he
difficult to mobilize the support hard decisions and controversial policies required. justified in doing so?

early Campaigns and Battles

The war’s first major battle was a disaster for northern arms. Against his better judgment,
General Winfield Scott, the aged army commander, responded to the “On to Rich-
mond” clamor and ordered poorly trained Union troops under General Irvin McDow-
ell to advance against the Confederate forces gathered at Manassas Junction, Virginia.
They attacked the enemy position near Bull Run Creek on July 21, 1861. Confeder-
ate General Thomas J. Jackson earned the nickname “ Stonewall” for holding the line
against the northern assault until reinforcements routed the invading force. The raw
Union troops stampeded back to safety in Washington.
This humiliating defeat led to a shake-up of the northern high command. George
McClellan replaced McDowell as commander of troops in the Washington area and
then became general in chief when Scott was eased into retirement. In the West, how-
ever, Union forces won important victories. In February 1862, a joint military–naval
operation, under General Ulysses S. Grant, captured Fort Henry on the Tennessee River
and Fort Donelson on the Cumberland along with 14,000 prisoners. The Confederate
army withdrew from Kentucky and middle Tennessee. Southern forces in the West
then massed at Corinth, Mississippi, just across the border from Tennessee. When
a slow-moving Union army arrived just north of the Mississippi state line, the South
attacked on April 6. In the battle of Shiloh, one of the bloodiest of the war, only the
arrival of reinforcements prevented the annihilation of Union troops backed up against
the Tennessee River. After a second day of fierce fighting, the Confederates retreated to
Corinth, leaving the enemy battered and exhausted.
Although Shiloh halted the Union’s effort to seize the Mississippi Valley, on April
26, a Union fleet from the Gulf captured New Orleans. The occupation of New Orleans,
besides securing the mouth of the Mississippi and the largest city in the South, climaxed
a series of naval and amphibious operations around the edges of the Confederacy. Bases
were now available to enforce a blockade of the southern coast.
But Union forces made little headway on the eastern front. In May, Robert E.
Lee took command of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, and in June he
began an all-out effort to expel Union forces from the outskirts of Richmond. All
summer, Lee’s forces battled McClellan’s up and down the peninsula southeast of the
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