IX. The Beginning of the End
A. The CSS Hunley
- The CSS Hunley was designed and built by Horace L. Hunley
- After a successful test run, the Hunley was brought to Charleston, SC in August of 1863
- PGT Beauregard, after being relieved of his command after Shiloh, was sent to see to the defenses of Charleston
- The Hunley was taken to Charleston and placed under his command- not the Navy
- The Hunley was given to the Navy shortly after the Union began the bombardment of Charleston from Morris Island
- It is then that the first crew of the Hunley was assembled
- The Hunley made its first tragic dive to the bottom on August 29,
1863- it was reported that the commander of the ship had stepped on the
dive plane causing the submarine to dive with the hatches open: 5
of the 9 crew drowned
- Within 72 hours, Beauregard had fished the submarine off the bottom and work began to restore it
- H.L. Hunley convinced the navy that they should allow he and others familiar with the sub to man it- they were allowed
- H.L. Hunley gathered a crew of eight for the submarine’s second dive
- On October 15, 1863, H.L. Hunley and her crew set out on a
maneuver to pass underneath a ship- that was their method attacking
(torpedo)
- An error in the dive, followed by an error in releasing the keel
ballasts caused the Hunley to dive and drive itself nose first in the
icy harbor bottom- all eight men, including Hunley were lost
- The Hunley was retrieved several days later and was put back under the command of the army & LT. George Dixon
- Lt. Dixon found a crew of nine and led them on what would become a historical mission
- Improvements had made on the Hunley- instead of dragging the
torpedo, they used a spar torpedo (a 10 foot spear with the torpedo
attached)
- On February17, 1864, Lt. Dixon and the crew of the Hunley set out from Charleston to sink the USS Housatonic
- The spar torpedo impacted the Housatonic and as the Hunley pulled away it exploded sinking quickly
- However, the Hunley suffered from the impact as well and sank to the bottom of the harbor
The Recovery
- The Hunley was lost for 131 years until it was discovered in 1995 in the harbor
- The Hunley was raised in 2000 and the crew of the Hunley was laid
to rest on April 17, 2004 in Magnolia Cemetery with the other 2 crews-
140 years after they perished
B. Virginia Campaign
- March 9, 1864: Ulysses S. Grant is promoted to Lt. General and General-in-Chief
- Halleck became strictly administrative, while Grant took field command
- Grant eliminated sideshows and concentrated forces
- Grant’s solution for success
- Capturing southern land meant nothing
- Union must destroy the two principle armies
C. The Final Armies
- West
- Overall Command: William T. Sherman
- Army of the
Tennessee:
Gen. James B. McPhereson
- Army of the Cumberland:
Gen. George H. Thomas
- Army of the Ohio:
Gen. John M. Schofield
- East
- Overall Command: Ulysses S. Grant
- Army of the Potomac: Gen. George G. Meade
- Army of the James: Gen. Benjamin Butler
- The CSA had two principle armies fighting the Union
- Army of Northern Virginia:
- Army of Tennessee:
D. Battle of the Wilderness
- Grant crosses the Rapidan River and marches through the Wilderness
- Grant is headed for Richmond in order to draw Lee out into the open
- Lee catches Grant in the wilderness and hits him there
- Day 1 of the Wilderness
- Grant’s numerical & artillery advantage are nullified in the woods
- Union control most of the early fighting
- The tide turns when Longstreet arrives and joins the fight
- Fighting was confused and occurred in small patches
- Forest fires break out & burn through the night killing most of the wounded soldiers
- Day 2 of the Wilderness
- Union progress is stopped by General Longstreet
- Longstreet controls the center and pushes Burnside back
- CSA attacks fail as well as Union advances
- Longstreet is shot by his own men
G. Spotsylvania
- Grant sidesteps and tries to get in between Lee and Richmond
- Lee realizes Grant’s plan and beats him to Spotsylvania Courthouse
- May 9, 1864 begins 12 days of fighting between the two armies
- Yellow Tavern:
- Gen. Sheridan’s cavalry attempts to raid Richmond
- Gen. Stuart’s cavalry cuts Sheridan off at Yellow Tavern
- CSA stop Sheridan, but Stuart is mortally wounded and dies in Richmond the next day
H. Battle of Spotsylvania
- Grant had Gen. Hancock attack Ewell at a salient in the CSA line
- Gen. John B. Gordon stopped the Union advance
- The fiercest fighting occurred at what was known as the bloody angle
- Gen. Anderson ends the 4th day of fighting by stopping the Union progress
I. Cold Harbor
- June 3: Grant orders an all out attack on CSA lines
- CSA lines were solid as their trenches were zigzagged- Union soldiers took fire from the front and side
- Battle lasted one hour and Union casualties were high (12,000)
J. Sherman’s Campaign and Atlanta
- Sherman went directly after Joe Johnston and the CSA
- Every time Sherman hit, Johnston would retreat further south
- Sherman’s overconfidence led to a massive Union defeat at Kennesaw Mountain
- Though, Johnston won Kennesaw Mt., he continued the retreat toward Atlanta
- Fed up with this tactic, Davis replaces Johnston with Gen. John B. Hood
- Gen. Hood was not the best selection- he had no use of his arm and his right leg was amputated
- Hood proceeds to attack the Union
- Hood attacks McPhereson and fails- Hood suffers 8,000 casualties but McPhereson is killed
- Hood attacks Sherman and fails- 2,500 casualties
- Sherman opens the artillery on the city of Atlanta
- Sherman cuts the last rail line to the city and Hood evacuates in September of 1864
K. Sherman’s March to the Sea
- Sherman dispatches 30,000 men under Gen. Thomas to guard Nashville
- Sherman’s line was 60 miles wide as he destroys everything in his path
- Sherman met no resistance until Savannah
- 9,000 men guarded the city
- Sherman takes Savannah on December 21
- Sherman sends a message to Lincoln: “I beg to present to you a Christmas Gift, the city of Savannah
L. 1st Assault on Petersburg
- Significance of Petersburg
- 23 miles south of Richmond
- The rail lifeline of Richmond
- Petersburg was well guarded by trenches and 55 artillery batteries
- Grant’s Plan:
- June 6: Grant sends Sheridan & the cavalry on
diversionary attacks in Charlottesville forcing Lee to dispatch Wade
Hampton & the CSA cavalry
- July 12: Grant sends Butler with his 2 corps across the James River headed for Petersburg
- Butler crossed over a pontoon bridge near Petersburg
- PGT Beauregard had been shifted to the defense of Petersburg
- Butler attacks the CSA in small groups capturing parts of the CSA line
- Lee dispatches A.P. Hill to Petersburg as reinforcement- Beauregard faced a force of 60,000 compared to his 10,000
- Butler’s attacks are driven back
- Grant calls for more attacks, but the Union is driven back by
Lee’s veterans- the Union must now engage in a siege of Petersburg
M. Siege and the Battle of the Crater
- The CSA could not afford to give up the town
- The Union had good supply lines, while the CSA sometimes went weeks without food rations
- During the siege, the 48th PA coal miners devised a plan to dig a tunnel underneath the CSA trenches
- They began on June 25 and finished 1 month later
- They packed the shaft with 4 tons of black powder
- The explosion occurred on July 30 around 5pm
- The hole created was 30 ft. deep, 80 ft. wide, and 170 ft. long
- The CSA lost 278 men and a battery of artillery
- The Union sent 2 divisions into the crater
- Lee’s artillery and infantry fired directly into the crater
at the trapped Union soldiers- this was disastrous for the Union
- Grant then realized, the only way to take Petersburg was to exploit his numerical advantage and overextend the CSA lines
- 1864 closes with Lee’s 50,000 men fighting off starvation and trying to survive the winter
- The final assault on Petersburg the following spring saw Grant extend his trenches in a circle around the city- 50 miles long
- Lee realizes he can no longer defend Petersburg or Richmond
N. Five Forks
- Major intersection that led to the last rail line open to the CSA
- Lee gave strict orders to take the intersection at all costs
- Pickett arrived first, poorly placed his men, and then attended a shad bake
- Sheridan plowed over the CSA defenses and the Union took control of the intersection
- Pickett was relieved of command
O. Fall of Richmond
- Lee informed Davis that he could no longer protect Richmond and Lee withdraws to Amelia
- Grant orders an all-out assault on Richmond
- April 2: Richmond is evacuated
- Davis and his cabinet are moved to Danville, VA
- CSA set fire to the military equipment- blaze gets out of hand and half the city burns
- A.P. Hill is shot and killed back at Petersburg
- Lee is desperate to get to Lynchburg to join up with Johnston,
but his army needs food- they receive a train load of supplies, but no
food
- Lee continues the retreat on April 6
- Along the retreat, at the rear of the column, Gen. Ewell and 1/3 of Lee’s men are captured at Saylor’s Creek
- Grant asks Lee to surrender
- Lee tries to push on to rejoin Johnston, but when he reached Appomattox Courthouse, he found Sheridan in his way
- The CSA were strong enough to move him and Grant was closing in from behind
P. Lee Surrenders
- April 9, 1865: Lee met Grant at the house of Wilmur McClean in Appomattox
- Surrender Terms:
- CSA must lay down their arms and supplies
- Officers may keep side arms (swords)
- Soldiers must sign paroles- no federal troop will bother a CSA soldier returning home in peace
- Grant allowed the men with their own horses to keep them for the plowing season
- Grant ordered 25,000 rations to be given to CSA soldiers
- When news reached outside the house, cheering erupted
- Grant put a stop to the celebration saying: “The rebels are our countrymen again”
The formal surrender:
- April 12: The surrender would take place without Lee & Grant
- It took place between the soldiers: Gen. John B. Gordon surrendered to Gen. Joshua L. Chamberlain
- Other surrenders:
- April 26: Johnston surrenders to Sherman
- May 26: Gen. Kirby Smith surrenders to Gen. Edmund Canby
The Last Casualty of War
- Lincoln was attending a play at Ford’s Theatre, “Our American Cousin” on April 14, 1865
- An actor and southern sympathizer, John Wilkes Booth, creeped up the stairway and shot Lincoln in the back of the head
- The plot was a conspiracy to kill Lincoln, Sec. of State
Seward, and Vice-President Johnson. It included Mary Surrat, John
Surrat, George Atzerodt, and Booth.
- Lincoln never regained consciousness and was pronounced dead on April 15.