James Frawley

Mr. McGoldrick
US History
24 February 2014
Identifications: Chapter 20
Jefferson Davis Davis was a West Point graduate who served in the Black Hawk War,
as did Lincoln, and the Mexican War in which he was wounded. Between the wars he
opened a plantation in Mississippi that he called Brierfield. He served as a democratic
US congressman, senator, and secretary of War for Franklin Pierce. These experiences
made his a clear choice to lead the Confederate States of America (CSA) once
Mississippi seceded, but once he was elected president his authoritarian demeanor and
military opinions did not endear him to other confederate leaders, military or civilian.
His heavy hand partly undid the Confederacy, but in his defense he was constantly
hampered in leading the central government by the very principle upon which the CSA
was foundedstates rights. Warned by Robert E. Lee to flee Richmond, President Davis
was captured, charges with treason, and imprisoned from 1865 through 1867 when the
charges were dropped. His viewpoint was one of confederate ideas and that the central
government was a difficult thing to run if the government is based on states rights. He is
significant today because he was part of the confederacy and essentially destroyed part of
the Confederacy.
Robert E. Lee A descendant of one of the first families of Virginia, he declined
President Lincolns offer to command the Union Army in 1861. Although opposed to
both slavery and secession, he joined the Confederate cause and was given command of
the Army of Northern Virginia. Lees iron will and unimpeachable character provided
much to the Confederacys resolve. After his army was whittled down to thirty thousand
troops he surrendered to General U. S. Grant at Appomattox in 1865. Lee is credited
with using his influence over his countrymen to urge a peaceful resolution to the war by
resisting all efforts to continue armed conflict that might have prolonged the war. His
viewpoint was that the Confederacy and its ideals were correct and that the Confederacy
should have won the war. He is significant today because he fought in the Civil War
against the Union, which was an important war to our countrys history.
General Stonewall Jackson One of the Confederacys brilliant commanders, General
Jacksons army defeated larger Union forces in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. After
achieving yet another victory at Chancellorsville, Stonewall was accidently shot and
killed by some of his own men upon his return from a night reconnaissance. His death
proved to serve blow to the Confederate military capacity. His viewpoint was one of
Confederate ideas and war tactics. He is significant today because his death damaged the
Confederacys army in the Civil War.
General Meade He was a career United States Army officer and civil engineer
involved in coastal construction, including several lighthouses. He fought with distinction
in the Second Seminole War and the Mexican-American War. During the American Civil
War he served as a Union general, rising from command of a brigade to the Army of the
Potomac. He is best known for defeating Confederate General Robert E. Lee at the Battle
of Gettysburg in 1863. His viewpoint was one that believed the union is better and must
be preserved. He is significant today because he was a great military leader for the US.
General McClellan He was a major general during the American Civil War and the
Democratic presidential nominee in 1864, which later served as Governor of New Jersey.
He organized the famous Army of the Potomac and served briefly (November 1861 to
March 1862) as the general-in-chief of the Union Army. Early in the war, McClellan
played an important role in raising a well-trained and organized army for the Union.
Although McClellan was meticulous in his planning and preparations, these
characteristics may have hampered his ability to challenge aggressive opponents in a fast-
moving battlefield environment. He chronically overestimated the strength of enemy
units and was reluctant to apply principles of mass, frequently leaving large portions of
his army unengaged at decisive points. His viewpoint was that the union was greater and
that it should be the way the country is run. He is significant today because he was a
great military leader and his great planning was injurious to his opponents.
General Grant A West Point graduate from Ohio, Grant was decorated for gallantry in
the Mexican War and was said to be an excellent horsemen. While putting off some
astounding tactical victories during the Civil War in the West, including the reduction of
Vicksburg and the freeing of the Mississippi River, as Grant rose in responsibility he
relied on attrition. Therefore, this other memorable top general of the Civil War is also
not considered a tactical genius, and he is often remembered as a butcher of his own men.
The numbers were all in Grants favor, however, and the brutal wearing down of the
Confederate army prevailed. As a war hero, Grant was elected president in 1868 and
served two terms. His was the first scandal-ridden presidency of the Gilded Age. His
viewpoint was that the Unions position in the war was better and more correct and that
their ideals were correct. He is significant today because he was useful in the victory of
the Civil War, which was instrumental in our countrys history.
General Sherman He was an American soldier, businessman, educator and author. He
served as a General in the Union Army during the American Civil War (186165), for
which he received recognition for his outstanding command of military strategy as well
as criticism for the harshness of the "scorched earth" policies that he implemented in
conducting total war against the Confederate States. His viewpoint was that the
confederacy was wrong and that they needed to be stopped. He is significant today
because he was a great commander of total war tactics against the Confederate States.
Clement Vallandigham He was an Ohio politician, and leader of the Copperhead
faction of anti-war Democrats during the American Civil War. He served two terms in
the United States House of Representatives. He was born in New Lisbon, Ohio (now
Lisbon, Ohio), to Clement Vallandigham and his wife Rebecca Laird. Vallandigham had
a dispute with the college president and was honorably dismissed in 1841 from Jefferson
College in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania. He never received a diploma. His viewpoint was
that the Civil War shouldnt have happened and that war is bad. He is significant today
because he lead the Copperheads during the Civil War.
Admiral Farragut He was a flag officer of the United States Navy during the
American Civil War. He was the first rear admiral, vice admiral, and admiral in the
United States Navy. He is remembered in popular culture for his order at the Battle of
Mobile Bay, usually paraphrased: "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!" by U.S. Navy
tradition. His viewpoint was that they should go head on into war if they must. He is
significant today because he was the flag officer during the Civil War.
Robert G. Shaw He was an American military officer in the Union Army during the
American Civil War. As Colonel, he commanded the all-black 54th Massachusetts
Infantry Regiment, which entered the war in 1863. He was killed in the Second Battle of
Fort Wagner, near Charleston, South Carolina. His viewpoint was that the union army
was the better cause and that the confederates needed to be defeated. He is significant
today because he was the leader of an all black regiment in the union army.
Copperheads They were a vocal group of Democrats located in the Northern United
States of the Union who opposed the American Civil War, wanting an immediate peace
settlement with the Confederates. Republicans started calling antiwar Democrats
"Copperheads", likening them to the venomous snake. The Peace Democrats accepted the
label, reinterpreting the copper "head" as the likeness of Liberty, which they cut from
copper pennies and proudly wore as badges. Their viewpoint was that they civil war
should not happen and that it was wrong to have a war. They are significant today
because they called for peace in a time of very bloody war.
Ex Parte Milligan It was a United States Supreme Court case that ruled that the
application of military tribunals to citizens when civilian courts are still operating is
unconstitutional. It was also controversial because it was one of the first cases after the
end of the American Civil War. Its viewpoint was that the application of military
tribunals to citizens was wrong. It is significant today because it was one of the first
cases tried by the Supreme Court after the civil war.
Ex Parte Merryman It is a well-known U.S. federal court case, which arose out of the
American Civil War. It was a test of the authority of the President to suspend "the
privilege of the writ of habeas corpus" under the Constitution's Suspension Clause. Chief
Justice Roger Taney, sitting as a federal circuit court judge, ruled that the authority to
suspend habeas corpus lay with Congress, not the president. President Lincoln ignored
the ruling, as did the Army under Lincoln's orders. The case was rendered moot by
Lincoln's subsequent order in February 1862 to release almost everyone held as a
political prisoner. Its viewpoint was to clear up who had the power to suspend habeas
corpus. It is significant today because Lincoln ignored their ruling that the president did
not have the power in the Civil War.
Bull Run The Battle of Bull Run, or Manassas, was the first major conflict (1861) of
what many politicians said would be a short war. Thomas J. Jacksons example rallied
fleeing Confederate forces and earned him the nickname Stonewall. Confederate
reinforcements were brought by train for the first time in warfare and allowed the South
to turn the tide. The Confederate rout of the Union Army and the five thousand
casualties caused many US leaders to realize the Civil War could be long and bloody. Its
viewpoint was that it would just be a short war. It is significant today because it was one
of the first battles of the civil war.
Antietam Antietam was the bloodiest one-day battle of the war with twenty-three
thousand casualties from both sides and the one time George McClellan thwarted Robert
E Lees plans. The retreat of Lee into Virginia was the first significant good news for the
Union forces and spurred Lincoln to issue the Emancipation Proclamation. Foreign
recognition of the confederacy was also stymied, a fact that severely crippled
Confederate hopes for European aid or intervention. Its viewpoint was that it killed a lot
of people and was decisive. It is significant today because it offered hope to the Union
because of the confederate retreat.
Fredericksburg This Virginia battle was among the most disturbing early setbacks of
the war for the north, in 1862. It caused another shakeup in the high command of the
Union Army, the leadership if which wasnt effective until General Grant assumed
control in 1863. Because of the nature of the battle in which the confederate soldiers
sheltered behind a stonewall in a sunken road, union soldiers at the battle of Gettysburg
then chanted the name Fredericksburg, as confederate soldiers made Picketts charge (an
infantry assault) against their line. Its viewpoint was that they were trying to fight the
Civil War. It is significant today because it was a battle of the Civil War, which is
important.
Chancellorsville It was a major battle of the American Civil War, and the principal
engagement of the Chancellorsville Campaign. It was fought from April 30 to May 6,
1863, in Spotsylvania County, Virginia, near the village of Chancellorsville. Two related
battles were fought nearby on May 3 in the vicinity of Fredericksburg. The campaign
pitted Unions Joseph Hooker's Army of the Potomac against an army less than half its
size, Gen. Robert E. Lee's Confederate Army of Northern Virginia. Chancellorsville is
known as Lee's "perfect battle" because his risky decision to divide his army in the
presence of a much larger enemy force resulted in a significant Confederate victory. The
victory, a product of Lee's audacity and Hooker's timid decision making, was tempered
by heavy casualties and the mortal wounding of Lt. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson
to friendly fire, a loss that Lee likened to "losing my right arm." Its viewpoint was that
the union army had more than twice the soldiers in the battle. It is significant because,
although he was outnumbered by a lot Lee of the confederacy managed an unlikely
victory.
Gettysburg This battle was the largest ever fought in the Western Hemisphere and the
most crucial of the Civil War. It marked the confederate armys last invasion of the north
and started when the forces unexpectedly ran into one another in a small Pennsylvania
town in July of 1863. Lee unsuccessfully attacked the Union forces several times
including the disastrous pickets change. The confederates retreated into Virginia, but the
new union commander, George Meade, refused Lincolns orders to give chase. Over
fifty thousand men were killed or wounded. Lees offer to resign after the battle was
ignored by the confederate government that struggled on, but most people even in the
South realized that Gettysburg spelled the doom of the confederacy. Its viewpoint is that
their needed to be a very decisive battle in the war. It is significant today because it
almost certainly secured victory for the Union Army in the Civil War.
Merrimack and Monitor This clash of ironclad ships marked a turning point in world
naval conflicts and is part of the reason the Civil War was the first modern war. The
confederate ship Virginia (the refitted Merrimac) was wreaking havoc with wooden
union ships until the newly designed Monitor arrived. The two ironclad ships pounded
each other for five hours before calling it a draw. The confederates later scuttled the
Virginia rather than be allowing it to be captured. The confederacy foreshadowed
modern naval warfare even more with the first successful combatant submarine, the
Hunley. Its viewpoint was to make advances in war and naval technology. It is
significant today because it was a new type of warfare that was new and modern.
Operation Anaconda The Anaconda Plan or Scott's Great Snake is the name widely
applied to an outline strategy for subduing the seceding states in the American Civil War.
Proposed by General-in-Chief Winfield Scott, the plan emphasized the blockade of the
Southern ports, and called for an advance down the Mississippi River to cut the South in
two. Because the blockade would be rather passive, it was widely derided by the
vociferous faction who wanted a more vigorous prosecution of the war, and who likened
it to the coils of an anaconda suffocating its victim. The snake image caught on, giving
the proposal its popular name. Its viewpoint was that the states should not secede from
the union and that this blockade would prevent it. It is significant today because our
country is currently a union of many states and the states should not secede.