April 27, 2013
South vs. the South
One of the most controversial and bloodiest wars to have ever taken place was fought by a nation separated in two to decide the fate of slavery in America. The Union Army of the North would go on to win the war, but they didn’t do it alone. It took a great three-part strategy that relied heavily on southern citizens being loyal to the Union cause, Divisions that emerged before the war that helped shape the Union, and Anti-confederate groups who helped cripple the South, all playing a role in the Union’s victory in the Civil War.
The Union Army’s strategy of the Civil War consisted of three parts and was very simple; but if all three were not completed, it would spell disaster for the North. The first part of the strategy was to capture and control all of the Confederate ports. Lincoln and his military planners saw they had naval superiority over the South due to the fact that the, “Northerners controlled almost all the nations largest warships” (Freehling 6). Realizing this, they knew they would be able to capture all of the confederate held ports, thus preventing the possibility of European aid to the south. The second part of the Union’s strategy was to cut off the Confederate Army from their supplies and reinforcements. This required the Union Army to take control of all major waterways like the Mississippi with their Ironclad ships to prevent General Lee from sending supplies and men to the Confederate held middle and lower southern states. They also had to take control of the railroads. Unlike the Confederate Army who blew up enemy railroads, the Union however, captured or repaired them to use as their own. “When Yankee armies conquered a Confederate held area, Yankee engineers often rebuilt its railroads” (Freehling11). This was a huge factor during the war. The Union Army was able to send twice the amount of supplies to