Dark Days of the War

In 1861, General Winfield Scott designed a plan to defeat the Confederate forces.  Scott did not believe that the war could be won quickly, so he designed a plan that would slowly but surely bring an end to the war.   The plan called for a naval blockade of all Southern ports, cutting the South off from money and supplies from Great Britain.  The second part of the plan, had the Union army take over the Mississippi River, isolating Louisiana, Arkansas, and Texas from the rest of the Confederacy. This plan became known as the Anaconda Plan.

      While Scott's plan was being carried out by Lincoln, many had hoped the war would end much quicker.  To achieve that goal, Lincoln wanted the Confederate capital of Richmond to be taken.  Lincoln promoted General George B. McClellan (Little Mac) to command the U.S. military.  McClellan led a large Union force into Northern Virginia hoping to capture Richmond.

    For seven days Robert E. Lee and George B. McClellan engaged in six battles outside Richmond.  The Seven Days Battle may have an unoriginal name but when the week was up, McClellan and his army limped out of northern Virginia back to Washington D.C.  Lincoln then orders General John Pope to try and take Richmond.  Pope is a highly ambitious soldier and takes bold chances on the battlefield. McClellan writes in his journal that Pope would be "trashed. "Pope tells his troops, "let us look before us and not behind.  Success and glory are in the advance."   Little Mac is right.  Pope and his men get badly beaten at the Second Battle of Bull Run.

      As the Union army is being defeated by Robert E. Lee, the popularity of the war in North is fading past.  Lincoln meets with his Secretary of War, Edward Stanton and his Sec. of State William Seward and discuss the situation.  Lincoln wants to issue an proclamation to free the slaves in the Confederate held territory.  Such a proclamation would cause damage to the Southern economy.  Lincoln can not issue the proclamation following an Union defeat.  If he did then it would make the north look desperate to win.  The President needed a victory.

      Victory would arrive courtesy of a box of cigars.  Union troops in Maryland discover battle plans for General Robert E. Lee's forces wrapped in a cigar box.  The Confederate government ordered Lee to head north and try to earn a victory on Union controlled land.  The South hoped that a Confederate victory on Union controlled land would have the U.S. government call for an end to hostilities.   

        With Lee's plans, McClellan knows where the Confederate forces are heading.  The two armies meet near Antietam Creek in Maryland.  The fighting lasts for several hours and both sides suffer heavy casualties.  In one day of fighting 12,500 Union soldiers and 13,700 Confederate troops would die.  Lee knew that his army was badly beaten and needed to return to Virginia for supplies and rest.  McClellan was given the opportunity to peruse Robert E. Lee but hesitates.  McClellan's hesitation would lead to his dismissal by Abraham Lincoln who ordered that Little Mac, "destroy the rebel army is possible." 

    Antietam remains the bloodiest day in American history.  From this battle though, Lincoln has the victory that he needs to issue the Emancipation Proclamation.  This document inspires slaves to flee their owners when they hear that a Union army is nearby, giving hope to millions.