...General Robert E. Lee displayed a Jominian fighting style as he commanded the Confederate Army during the Civil War. His actions as a military commander was influenced by Southern President, Jefferson Davis’ political leadership, as well as General Lee’s military experiences and training. Repeatedly, General Lee sought to achieve limited political, strategic, and operational goals or objectives; by the using the Jominian principle of mass and concentration at the tactical level of war. This limited focus had a direct impact on how the Confederate Army was commanded. Additionally, it had an impact on how strategic and operational planning was conducted, and on the execution of the orders that were issued. This Jominian line of thinking was...
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...The battle of Chancellorsville was the fourth bloodiest battle during the Civil War and was one of the most unique and interesting battles. On one side, there was the Union general who developed and initiated the “perfect plan.” On the other side, there was a Confederate general who countered that perfect plan utilizing, at that time and still to this day, unthinkable maneuvers to achieve the “perfect victory.” This battle epitomizes the strong versus weak or the rich versus the poor in the following example ways: The Union Army was larger, better equipped, and better supplied with better infrastructure while the Confederate Army was barely had shoes on the soldiers feet. However, what the Confederates lacked in financial assets such as equipment, they made up for in heart and determination. The Union Army really didn’t have a solid moral reason for fighting; it was more of a political directive. But the Confederate Army was defending their home, families, and their way of life, even their identity of who they were, by an invading force. In this paper, I will...
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...great leaders since the start of the United States. However, one of the most important was General Robert E. Lee. No man proved a worthier opponent to the North during the Civil War than Robert E. Lee. As the fourth child of Colonel Henry Lee and Ann Hill Carter, Lee was born on January 19,1807. Lee's father, also known as "Light-Horse Harry," had been a cavalry leader during the Revolutionary War, he had also served as governor of Virginia. Despite being part of the elite lifestyle, the Lee family suffered hardships with money because of his father. With not having the money to attend college, Lee entered the Military Academy at West Point. While there, he quickly rose in the ranks and graduated second in the class of 1829....
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...important engagement of the Civil war, the Battle of Gettysburg, had transpired. Three days of continuous conflicts brought out the best and the worst of every individual on the battlefields. James Longstreet, also known as “Old Pete” (Civil War 1), was one of the most controversial of these individuals. As a result of many disputes with...
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...stated previously, effective leadership is inclusive of providing vision, which is clearly evidenced in the actions of Lee. Critics of Robert E. Lee would even have to agree that his aggressiveness is a positive trait of a general. The lessons and skills General Lee displayed during the Battle of Antietam are still recognized today and can be beneficial for leaders of any organization during the 21st century. Similarly, there are lessons that can be learned from the mistakes of General McClellan during his time as the Commander of the Union Army. For example, General McClellan's greatly misjudged the Confederate Army’s strength in numbers; which happened to govern his military career. Because of this he is known as a timid leader that...
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...American Civil War History Paper The American Civil War (1861–1865) was a civil war between the United States (the "Union") and the Southern slave states of the newly-formed Confederate States of America under Jefferson Davis. The Union included all of the free states and the five slaveholding border states and was led by Abraham Lincoln and the Republican Party, which opposed the expansion of slavery into territories owned by the United States. Republican victory in the presidential election of 1860 led seven Southern states to declare their secession from the Union even before Lincoln took office.[1] The Union rejected secession, regarding it as rebellion. Hostilities began on April 12, 1861, when Confederate forces attacked a U.S. military installation at Fort Sumter in South Carolina. Lincoln responded by calling for a large volunteer army, then four more Southern states declared their secession. In the war's first year, the Union assumed control of the border states and established a naval blockade as both sides massed armies and resources. In 1862, battles such as Shiloh and Antietam caused massive casualties unprecedented in U.S. military history. In September 1862, Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation made ending slavery in the South a war goal, which complicated the Confederacy's manpower shortages. In the East, Confederate commander Robert E. Lee won a series of victories over Union armies, but Lee's reverse at Gettysburg in early...
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...Maryland. The battle was fought between General Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia and General McClellan’s Army of the Potomac. Although the battle lasted only 12 hours, it was a significant point of the American Civil War, as well as the deadliest day in history. Tactically the battle was considered a draw, but the North claimed strategic victory and President Lincoln published the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing hundreds of thousands of slaves. The Battle of Antietam Antietam Antietam is actual creek that is 41.7 miles long, located in Pennsylvania and Western Maryland. On September 17, 1862 during the American Civil War, the Union, and Confederate armies fought near Antietam creek, which is known as the Battle of Antietam. This battle was the first battle of the war that took place in the Northern territory. The Battle of Antietam was the turning point of the American Civil War. The Leaders of The Battle of Antietam The Commander of the Union Army of the Potomac was General George B. McClellan. General McClellan was a West Point graduate, class of 1846, commanded in the Mexican–American War, and took command of the Union forces on September 1, 1862. At this time the army was divided into four separate entities: Departments of Northeastern Virginia, Washington, Baltimore, and the Shenandoah, with thousands of untrained Soldiers and numerous small cells that needed to be combined and battle ready in a short period of time. General McClellan used his skills as a great...
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...General (Gen.) Robert E. Lee was the brilliant Confederate leader whose skill in military strategies, battlefield intellect, and the trust and confidence of his men and subordinate leaders, allowed the South to continue to fight during the four gruesome years of the Civil War. In the Battle of Antietam, Gen. Lee’s direct involvement made the difference for the Confederate army. With a force nearly half the size of his opponents, Gen. Lee showed that knowing your opponent, the terrain, and your capabilities can make the difference in any battle. (Gallagher 2010) Although unable to attend Harvard as his brother did, Gen. Lee was able to get an advanced education at the United States Military Academy. He graduated second in his class and was a...
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...states and the southern states battled after President Abraham Lincoln took office and vowed to rid the southern territories of slavery. The southern territories were not even considered states at the time and decided to secede from the northern states. The northern states called themselves the Union while the southern states were considered the Confederacy. In this paper, I will discuss some respective advantages and disadvantages of the Union and how these elements manifested during the American Civil War. Let’s start off with an advantage the Union had over the Confederacy. The Union had far more valuable leadership such as Ulysses S. Grant. (World History Group, n.d.) Ulysses worked his way up through the ranks of the Army starting as a volunteer. The victories at Vicksburg and Gettysburg put Ulysses in the public eye and was promoted to Lieutenant General and named commander of the entire Union army by President Lincoln. (Ulysses S. Grant, n.d.) Ulysses surrounded Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s army in Northern Virginia and Lee eventually surrendered to the Union at Appomattox...
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...American Wars All men ride off to war together side by side with their brothers. However, Lieutenant Custer made the trip to Washington, DC alone due to a disciplinary infraction that had held him behind his peers by more than a month. In July 1861, he arrived in Washington, DC and the chance to stay and train new recruits. He quickly turned down this offer hoping for an opportunity to find his way into a combat unit. Against his wishes, his assignment would be an instructor position, but this would only last a few weeks. On July 21st, 1861 he witnessed his first glimpse of combat as a message courier for Commander Winfield Scott in the Battle of Bull Run. This glimpse would be the first battle of the Civil War fought by nearly twenty thousand poorly trained troops with the Union and the Confederate. The Union was slow to position themselves, and the Confederate forces had reinforcements arrive by rail, though this would lead to a confederate victory. Lieutenant Custer...
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...Within the last century, the scale of war has made necessary a different type of leader. We no longer fight for our farms, villages, and hunting lands. Our interests have shifted from straits and mountain passes. In our current world, as a result of technological revolutions and ever growing political instability, we live in the threat of a global war. Actions have the potential to resonate in many continents subsequently influencing the economies, policies, and war strategies of nations worldwide. For these reasons, leaders must study the past and integrate history's lessons learned with the new challenges of leading within a heightened threat. Military leaders must maintain their grasp and focus on the technical mastery of warfighting, personal courage, and the ability to inspire men to fight for a common cause. Victory will lend itself to the commander who can master the terrain and find new or creative ways to employ his weapons and men. Leaders must be technically proficient with the arms they use to wage war. In a broad example, the Spartans studied the natural tendency of phalanx formations to shift right and employed special tactics to break off part of their formation and bring it upon the flank of their enemy. Even here with similar weapons and tactics, the Spartans pursued the mastery of their warfighting system and stood victorious on the field of battle. For a more detailed analysis, in 480 BC, during the Greco-Persian wars, a Spartan leader named Leonidas used...
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...The Confederate invasion of the North in September of 1862 was an attempt by Robert E. Lee to swing the war in favor of the South. The main reason for the Confederate invasion was that the British were on the verge of recognizing the Confederacy if they could show it could hold its own, and Lee was anxious to provide a cornerstone for the Confederacy to build upon. The Battle of Antietam was the bloodiest day in American history and was a major blow to the Army of Northern Virginia and the morale of the south. This is the tableau against which our story unfolds. Stephen W. (Ward) Sears was born July 27th, 1932 in Ohio. He is a pre-eminent American historian specializing in all facets of the Civil War. He graduated from Oberlin College in Oberlin, Ohio and was an attendee of a journalism seminar at Radcliffe-Harvard. As a novelist, he has concentrated on the military history of the Civil War, primarily focusing his works on the battles involving and leaders of the Army of the Potomac. He was formerly employed as an editor for the Educational Department at the American Heritage Publishing Company. Sears currently resides in Norwalk, Connecticut. Some of the other books he has written on the Civil War are Gettysburg, Chancellorsville, To the Gates of Richmond: The Peninsula Campaign, and George B. McClellan: The Young Napoleon. However, it is his novel, Landscape Turned Red: The Battle of Antietam, that we are concerned with here. It is a fantastic book detailing the battle of...
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...Outcomes of the Civil War | How could the outcome of the Civil War been changed? | The Civil War was won by the Union but what would have happened if the Confederates would have won? What would have happened if the Union had won earlier? What would the outcome have been if new technologies had been implemented? These are questions that are not easy to answer. These questions demand speculation and assumptions that are not provable. The best guesses of different outcomes are all we have to work with. The first question, what if the Confederates had won, has many different outcomes. The most likely outcome of this is that the United States would have become five different countries. The Union and the Confederates are obvious but Texas and California would have pushed to become sovereign countries. Utah would have become the fifth country by becoming a Church State. The northwest States probably would have rejoined the Union in the 1930’s due to the Great Depression. Abraham Lincoln may not have been assassinated since John Wilkes Booth did not have a motive for the killing. Lincoln would have finished his career as a senator after twenty years. He would have written his memoirs after the war with many thousands of copies sold mainly in the south. Robert E. Lee would have become Confederate President Jefferson Davis's special envoy to the United States. But the strain of the job, and trying to maintain friendly relations with a former enemy, would have...
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...Describe the different approaches to waging war of Grant and McClellan, utilizing Grant's campaign in the West and McClellan's maneuvers in Virginia. During the American Civil War, leadership within the Union’s army was constantly an issue. Within the Union, various generals were found at times to be at odds with the political leaders in Washington. This was especially evident in the relationship between General George McClellan and President Lincoln. This tension was the result of McClellan’s approach to waging war. By examining the differing approaches to waging war of U.S. Grant and George B. McClellan one can gain a better appreciation for the decision making that was necessary by leaders like Lincoln, in selecting military generals who could effectively wage war to defeat the Confederacy. By all accounts, George B. McClellan had the makings of a great general. Graduating second in his class at West Point in 1842, he served under General Winfield Scott in the Mexican War. (McPherson, 1988, p. 4) He also served with distinction early in the war by assuring that Kentucky and the region that would become West Virginia, remained out of Confederate control. (McPherson, 1988, pp. 299-301) After the Union loss at the First Battle of Bull Run, McClellan was named commander of the Army of the Potomac, and by November 1861, he was the General-in-Chief of all Federal forces. (McPherson, 1988, pp. 348-350) McClellan’s approach to waging war was one of the cautious tactician. He...
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...Soon into his service, Joshua’s younger brothers joined the Twentieth Maine. They went on to fight with him for the rest of the war. In September of 1862, Joshua’s regiment occupied Sharpsburg, Maryland. This was the site of the Battle of Antietam and, even though Chamberlain did not fight in the battle, he witnessed the brutal effects of the war on his fellow soldiers. Chamberlain was emotionally scarred when he say a dead, sixteen year old, Confederate soldier who was holding a bible when he...
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