Themes of the American Civil War
The Social Dimension of War
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| The Social Dimension of War Taking a truly revolutionary step, the federal government enlisted African- Americans in great numbers into the army and navy, indicating how the expanding modern war disrupted the antebellum society. When the US. War Department held off on pushing for new units, and enlistments began to decline during 1862, one solution to finding more soldiers was to enlist blacks. Lincoln opened the door for this possibility when he issued the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation on September 22, 1862, following the Union victory in the Antietam campaign. Earlier, Radical Republicans had called for black enlistment and a few radical generals prematurely had created black units, but Lincoln disbanded them. Beginning in the necessity for more soldiers to prosecute the war to victory realized the radicals dream of arming former slaves. Eventually, more than 180,000 African-Americans served in the federal army, under the leadership of white officers another 10,000 blacks wore Union navy uniforms. Thousands more contributed to the Northern war effort as teamsters and laborers. Some historians have argued that, by comprising 10 percent of the Northern soldiers and sailors, blacks provided the margin of victory for restoring the Union. Officially styled the US. Colored Troops African-Americans in the army radicalized the war by striking directly at the Southern social system based on slavery. Controversies erupted. Confederates shot black soldiers who surrendered, returned black prisoners to slavery, and mistreated white officers leading the Colored Troops In the last weeks of the war, ironically, the The First of the Modern Wars? • 71 Confederate Congress authorized the creation of experimental units of black soldiers to serve the South, but the war ended before many were enrolled. 25 Other controversies flared over government restrictions or violations of civil liberties. Relying on his executive authority, President Lincoln ordered arrests of civilians under martial law and suspended the writ of Habeas Corpus. These actions took place especially in the border states of Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri, but also occurred in other states. Perhaps as many as 18,000 persons were arrested and held without trial during the course of the war—what seemed amazing violations of civil liberties to later generations. During 1861–65, however, President Lincoln and other federal officials were worried about opposition to the Union by those they considered subversive. Individuals, such as former Democratic Congressman Clement Vallandigham, and secret groups, such as the Knights of the Golden Circle, were suspect. Because of public outcry against his actions, Lincoln signed the Habeas Corpus Act in March, 1863, giving him legal authority to make other arrests. In retrospect Northern critics questioning the conscription policy or finding fault with Lincoln’s leadership appeared less threatening than it did during the war. The President, however, suspected treason and believed that traitors had to be dealt with sternly. Authorized by an Act passed by the Confederate Congress, Jefferson Davis also suspended Habeas Corpus, but not on so wide a scale as Lincoln. More than Southern political prisoners were arrested by Confederate authorities. 26 Although some historians have downplayed the significance of these arrests, the actions raised the specter of tyrannical government action in wartime. Furthermore, the two Congresses enacted laws having other consequences for civilians. Confiscation Acts passed by the US. Congress in August, and July, 1862, combined to empower the North to confiscate all real and movable property (including slaves) of anyone providing aid or service to the Confederacy. Thus the institution of slavery started to unravel even before Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation. In March, 1863, despite protests from state governments, the Confederate Congress passed an Act authorizing the Southern government to impress any item necessary for use by the Rebel armies. Circumventing states rights, the Confederate government created new ways to touch its citizens. 27 In both North and South the war affected women. In the South, the departure of so many men into the military called for women to take on new tasks. In addition to household chores, more women found jobs in schools, hospitals, businesses, government offices, and factories. On the farms, especially in the South, women not only worked in the fields but also became supervisors and bookkeepers. Other women contributed to the war effort. In the North, the US. Sanitary Commission productively channeled efforts of volunteer workers, including many women. Southern women rolled bandages, baked foods, and volunteered in numerous other ways. Historians 72 • Joseph G. Dawson III debate how women’s place in society changed due to the war, but the war required or offered opportunities for women to work in ways that were out of the ordinary for many of them, and can be interpreted to show a widening, modern war. 28 Successful commanders grew to understand that the Civil War was a brutal contest of wills that demanded sledgehammer blows but General George B. McClellan was the personification of limited warfare. One of the most important Union commanders, and modernist in his ability to master complicated logistics, McClellan also demonstrated remarkable talents to organize, train, and inspire a national army. But he campaigned cautiously; after creating the marvellous Army of the Potomac, he was reluctant to send it into battle. He also opposed taking actions against slavery—that is, he was not out to upset the Southern social system. Ina letter to a Virginian, for example, McClellan explained his outlook I have done my best to secure protection to private property, but I confess that circumstances beyond my control have often defeated my purposes. I have not come hereto Virginia to wage war upon the defenseless, upon noncombatants, upon private property, nor upon the domestic institutions of the land The general mistakenly believed that, whenever the war ended, the nation could be restored only on the basis of the Union as it stood in To some, Robert E. Lee appeared Napoleonic in his tactical offensive style, but he also could summon the rhetoric of total war. According to Lee’s adjutant, Colonel Charles Marshall, Lee believed that every other consideration should be regarded as subordinate to the great end of the public safety, and that since the whole duty of the nation would be war until independence should be secured the whole nation should for the time of war be converted into an army, the producers to feed and the soldiers to fight But Lee seemed shocked about the war’s destructiveness and the actions taken by Union forces. Even under the conditions of limited war that prevailed during 1861, Lee was astounded by what he considered the unwarranted conduct of Union troops, including “pillaging,”“burning,” and “robbing.” Receiving news of raids along the Atlantic coast in 1862, Lee wrote his son, No civilized nation within my knowledge has ever carried on war as the United States government has against us Although historian T. Harry Williams called Lee the last of the great old-fashioned generals there was no doubt that Lee was also aggressive and took great risks to win Confederate independence he twice launched powerful offensives into the Union states. 30 Departing from McClellan’s traditionalism, Major General John Pope unleashed a powerful rhetoric of war-making. Having won victories in the Mississippi Valley, Pope came east, levelling bombast in all directions and calling for the North to begin waging a harsher war against secessionists and slaveholders. Pope was unable to deliver on his own promises of a more destructive war. His defeat at Lee’s hands in the second battle of Bull Run, The First of the Modern Wars? • 73 Virginia, in August, 1862, forced President Lincoln to seek more determined commanders to take the fight to the enemy. 31 Download 2.25 Mb. Share with your friends:
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