US Ch.16 Civil War

Terms	Definitions
border state	the states between the North and the South that were divided over whether to stay in the Union or join the Confederacy.
blockade	cut off an area by means of troops or warships to stop supplies or people from coming in or going out; to close off a country's ports
rebel	Confederate soldier, so called because of opposition to the established government.
yankee	Union soldier.
ironclad	armored naval vessel.
emancipate	to free from slavery.
habeas corpus	Latin legal term for the right of prisoners to a fair trial. During Civil War, President Lincoln, fearing subversion from southern sympathizers in the North, suspended the right of habeas corpus. Lincoln's decision to suspend habeas was extremely controversial at the time
draft	the selection of persons for required military service.
bounty	money given as a reward, as to encourage enlistment in the army.
greenback	Term for paper money printed by the Union when the government was in need of money to fund the war. Originally backed by gold, then by government bonds. Value of this money varied according to vitality of the Union Army, at times depreciating far below face value
entrenched	occupying a strong defensive position.
total war	war on all aspects of the enemy's life.
Bull Run	First official battle of the Civil War; occurred west of Washington, D.C., 21 July 1861. Smaller Confederate army stood strong against Union assaults. Fierce battle disproved both sides' hopes of easy victory in Civil War.
Monitor v. Merrimack	Battle between two ironclad ships, lasts five days and has no winner but changes the paradigm of naval warfare
Shiloh	Extremely bloody two-day battle in Tennessee began with Union troops in disarray but ended with Confederate retreat. Union army lost some 13,000 men and Confederacy lost 10,000. More American men died in this single battle than in all previous American wars
New Orleans	April 18-29, 1862 in Louisiana. Union-David Farragut led his naval fleet against the South's largest and most important port. Significance: Cut off South's largest port city.
Antietam	September 1862, the first major battle in the American Civil War to take place on Northern soil. It was the bloodiest single-day battle in American history, with about 23,000 casualties
Emancipation Proclamation	Issued by President Lincoln during the Civil War, motivated less by abolitionist sentiment than by strategic desire to weaken the Confederacy. Freed slaves in the Confederacy, but did not free slaves in states than had declared loyalty to the Union
Fredericksburg	December 13, 1862 in Virginia. Union-Ambrose Burnside Confederacy-Jackson and Longstreet. McClellan is fired and replaced with Burnside. Burnside reluctant to attack and allowed Confederates to reinforce their defense. Low point for the Union. Significance: Burnside is replaced by Joseph Hooker.
Chancellorsville	May 1-4, 1863 in Virginia. Union-Hooker. Confederacy-Lee, Jackson. Lee is outnumbered 2 to 1. He divides his army and launches a surprise attack on Hooker. Significance: Jackson dies on May 10 from pneumonia. Hooker replaced by George Meade. Gave Lee confidence to invade Gettysburg.
Gettysburg	One of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War, fought in southern Pennsylvania over first 4 days in July. Union troops defeated Confederate army led by Robert E. Lee, forcing southerners to retreat. Marked the farthest advance of the Confederate Army into northern territory. Turning point of the Civil War
Pickett's Charge	A failed Confederate assault against Union lines during the Battle of Gettysburg. Named for Confederate General George Pickett, who led the attack. Ended in defeat and death of 10,000 Confederate soldiers. Marked "high-water mark" of Confederacy; southern troops never advanced farther north than Pickett's Charge
Vicksburg	The union forces wanted to capture Vicksburg in order to control to Mississippi River. (Union) Gen. Grant surrounded Vicksburg and bombed it for a month. The people and Confederate soldiers starved until they surrendered.
Gettysburg Address	a famous speech delivered by Abraham Lincoln in Nov. 1863 at the dedication of a national cemetery on the site of the Battle of Gettysburg
Sherman's March to the Sea	total war military campaign, led by Union General William Tecumseh Sherman, that involved marching 60,000 Union troops through Georgia from Atlanta to Savannah and destroying everything along there way.
Appomattox Court House	Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered his army to Union General Ulysses S. Grant in western Virginia, 9 April 1865. Marked the end of the Civil War
Abraham Lincoln	Anti-slavery Republican, elected U.S. President, 1860. Moderate stance on emancipation; not abolitionist, but against slavery's expansion. His election triggered secession crisis, which led to Civil War. Assassinated by John Wilkes Booth at Ford's Theater, Washington D.C, 1865
Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson	Confederate general during the Civil War. Received his nickname "Stonewall" for resolute leadership at Battle of Bull Run (Manassas), 1861. Mortally wounded when accidentally shot by Confederate soldiers at Battle of Chancellorsville, 1863
George B. McClellan	Ineffective Union general during Civil War. Fired by President Lincoln in 1862. Democratic presidential nominee in the 1864 election, running on a platform of peace and criticizing Lincoln's leadership. Lost to Lincoln by only a small margin
Ulysses S. Grant	Union general who commanded the eastern front from 1864 to 1865. Nicknamed "The Butcher" for his determination to destroy southern armies any way he could, regardless of human cost
Robert E. Lee	Confederate general; son of Revolutionary War hero from wealthy Virginia family. First asked by Lincoln to command Union Army, but instead declared allegiance to the Confederacy. Strong leader, but failed at the Battle of Gettysburg, the war's pivotal battle. Surrendered to Grant's Union Army in April 1865, ending the Civil War
Ambrose Burnside	General who replaced McClellan. He resigned his command voluntarily after his failure at the battle of Fredericksburg
Dorothea Dix	Worked to improve the treatment of the mentally ill. At the outbreak of the Civil War, she was appointed superintendent of women nurses for the Union forces. She was a teacher and an author.
Clara Barton	volunteer that organized efforts to gather medicine and supplies for Union troops on the battlefield; her efforts formed the basis for the founding of the American Red Cross
Copperheads	a group of northern Democrats who opposed abolition and sympathized with the South during the Civil War
Joseph Hooker	United States general in the Union Army who was defeated at Chancellorsville by Robert E. Lee (1814-1879)
George Meade	Union General who replaced Hooker and defeated Lee at Gettysburg
William Tecumseh Sherman	Union General who destroyed South during "march to the sea" from Atlanta to Savannah, example of total war
54th Massachusetts	All-black unit that fought for the Union during the Civil War. Led by white colonel Robert Gould Shaw. Led charge against Confederate forces at Fort Wagner, suffering overwhelming casualties.