Page 62 - NS-2 Textbook

THE CIVIL WAR 55

poverty and famine for many years. The spirit of defeat
oppressed the people even longer.
CRITICAL THINKING
Many changes occurred during the war. Because of
the scarcity of "\vhale oil, for exanlple, petroleum, ·which 1. Do you think the American Civil War was inevitable?
had been discovered at Titusville, Pennsylvania, in 1858, Elaborate on your reasons 'vhy or 'vhy not.
was used to make kerosene for lamps throughout the na- 2. Research the life of Lieutenant George Dixon, the cap-
tion by V\Tar's end. Food canning ,vas developed by tain of the Confederate submarine the HUllley. What
Gilbert Van Camp in Indianapolis. The Union Army soon legendary artifact was discovered near his body when
was living on canned meats and vegetables. Mines came the submarine ,vas raised from Charleston Harbor in
into being as an effective weapon of war. Some thirty- 2000?
five Union ships were slmk by Confederate mines, more 3. Although the USS MOllitor was the first of a new design
than from any other cause. Torpedoes on the ends of for ,varships, it ,vas not the last of its class. Research
spars were tried. Ironclad ships "\vere proven effective. how lllany more Monitor-class warships were built,
The idea of a submarine, though not entirely successful, the operations in which they participated, and when
",Tas resurrected. Balloons 'were used as observation plat- the last one ,vas decommissioned.
forms, not with much success, but the idea of aerial re-
COIUlaissance began.
Medical care of wOlmded men received great atten-
tion, and the U.S. Navy fitted out its first hospital ship,
the Red Rover, a side-wheeler put into service in 1862 at
St. Louis on the Mississippi River. It was staffed by fe-
Chronology
male nurses and had operating rooms, elevators, bath-
tubs, and ice vaults. Dorothea Dix and Clara Barton, who 12 Apr. 1861 Civil War begins
later founded the American Red Cross, recruited both 8 Nov. 1861 TreHt affair
men and women to perform nursing duties at the battle- 9 Mar. 1862 Monitor vs. Merrimack
fronts and in Army hospitals. 24 Apr. 1862 New Orleans sluTenders
Cameras were used to record the sights and scenes of 17 Sept. 1862 Battle of Antietam
men and battle for the first time. Railroads and telegraph, 1-3 July 1863 Battle of Gettysburg
though existing before the Wa\~ became indispensable 4 July 1863 Vicksburg surrenders
cornmlmication links. 17 Feb. 1864 HUllley sinks Housatollic
TI,e Navy itself had grown to more than 600 ships, 19 June 1864 CSS Alabal1la sill1k
including sixty armored ironclads and monitors. Nearly 5 Aug. 1864 Battle of Mobile Bay
60,000 officers and men ,vere serving in a Navy that had 15 Jan. 1865 Ft. Fisher surrenders
numbered only about 9,000 at the start of the war. That 9 Apr. 1865 Lee surrenders
the Navy played a vital role in the victory of the Union is
tmquestionable.
Confederate general Robert E. Lee proved to be fue su-
perior tactician in the field, but the overall grand strategy
of the Union tmder Lincoln and Grant gradually forced
him into submission because of lack of men, food, and mil- Study Guide Questions
itary supplies. Despite the final defeat of Lee in Virginia, 1. vVhat ,vere the two different economies that had de-
the battles around fue edges of the Confederacy were really veloped in the North and South?
the decisive ones. The Navy played a relatively small role 2. What political development caused the Southern
in the holding and maneuvering actions in the eastern the- states to secede from the Union?
ater, except for the final battle for Fort Fishel~ which sealed 3. What was the sigr>ificance of the Fort Sumter sur-
Lee's fate at Petersburg and Appomattox. render?
The Confederacy's attempts to sustain itself by in- 4. In spite of the odds, why were many in the South
terior lines of comnumications, as Continental strate- persuaded that they would be able to establish the
gists advocated, failed in the face of the superior naval Confederacy as an independent nation?
power arowld it. Movement by sea forces proved to be 5. What maritime miscalculations did Jefferson Davis
faster than movement by land forces over the poor make in the early days of the war?
roads and railroads of the South. These are geopolitical 6. How did the U.S. Navy set about accomplishing its
and strategic lessons on sea pmver versus land puwer blockade?
that have been studied by generations of strategists 7. What was the Navy's amphibious strategy to sup-
since the Civil War. III port the Union blockade?