Tuesday, July 20, 2010

General Ambrose Burnside...

Lincoln named Ambrose Burnside the new head guy, Burnside was known for his sweet sideburns, its even where they got their name!



General Ambrose Burnside took 110,000 men towards Richmond.

They came upon 75,000 Confederate soldiers at Fredericksburg. Lee figured the Union would cross the river above or below town, but, Burnside thought a surprise would be better.




Yes, Burnside decided to cross directly in front of the Confederates. He figured their size alone would force the Confederates to retreat.

He was wrong. Over the course of the day, Burnside had his men charge 14 times, his commanding officers begged him to stop. After it was all said and done, the Union lost 13,000 men. The North went back into its depression.

Monday, July 12, 2010

The Battle of Antitem and McClellan's Lack of Action

Morale in the Union was low. Besides in the West, the Union had no victories. People were growing concerned.



Robert E. Lee knew the North was in poor spirits and realized he had a chance to really make the North look bad. He wrote a letter to Confederate President, Jefferson Davis, telling him that now was the time to invade the north, Davis agreed.

September 1862, Lee's army crossed the Potomac River into western Maryland with McClellan following. Finally, something went right for the North...



A Union soldier had found Lee's marching orders, McClellan was super excited.



McClellan informed Lincoln and Lincoln told him to destroy the Rebels.

The two armies met in Sharpsburg, Maryland. 70,000 Union soldiers and 40,000 Confederates.

Even though the Union over powered the Confederates by 30,000, McClellan delayed...again.




16 hours later, September 17, 1862, the battle began, this was the Battle of Antietam.

The Union kept charging the Confederates.


Fighting in the Civil War was harsh. Just imagine, standing in a straight line, starring at another straight line, there are cannons, everyone has guns with bayonets attached, running at each other.

This happened over and over and over again. There were dead and wounded everywhere. In all, over 23,000 casualties were recorded. Antietam was the single bloodiest day of Battle to ever occur on United States soil.

Lee lost almost a third of his army and McClellan still had 25,000 soldiers in reserve, but he didn't use them.

The next day, McClellan had the best opportunity to do what Lincoln said, destroy the Rebel Army, but of course, he didn't.

Lee and his men started a slow retreat back to Virginia. Lincoln even ordered McClellan to go go after them.




McClellan didn't move. Lincoln had enough, McClellan got the boot.

Sunday, July 4, 2010

Happy 4th of July

Happy 234th Birthday America!