The American Civil War: Rules, Chronology and Turning Points

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From the beginning, the Confederates and the Union forces had an almost equal strength when it came to manpower, but as the war continued the Union forces grew in number as it was able to isolate some of the Southern states (West, 2006, para. 19). Confederate planners and ordinary folks believed that guerrillas would be a significant component of their armed base; however, common soldiers had to be the main actors because the war could not be won by mere guerrillas.

Confederates considered the war a “people’s war.” There were disadvantages to this type of war. Guerrilla war produces vigilantism and “outright outlawry” which make civilians victims rather than the protected ones. The Confederate leadership felt suspicious of the members of the guerrilla forces and so the guerrilla war failed because the Forces underestimated its capability.

The guerrilla war came out to be a war with “its own rules, its own chronology, its own turning points, and its own heroes, villains, and victims. At the same time, it also formed part of the wider war. It influenced the strategy and logistics of conventional campaigns, the political culture, the morale of soldiers and civilians, the southern economy, and ultimately, the very nature of the conflict.” (Sutherland, 2002, p. 262)

The guerrilla warfare held promise as demonstrated by its many successes. On 23 March 1862, Colonel James Carter of the Second East Tennessee Infantry, United States Army, led a group of Tennessee volunteers, along with the Forty-Ninth Indiana Volunteers, to proceed to Big Creek Gap passing through Boston.

When they reached the foot of the mountain, Colonel Carter received information that they were to encounter a rebel cavalry at Big Creek Gap. Colonel Carter divided his volunteers into two with one group under the charge of Lieutenant Colonel Kcigwin and the other one under his command.

After an ascent of about 9 miles to the mountain, they surprised the enemy led by Lieutenant Colonel John White. After a short period of fighting, the rebels were defeated and many of them ran to different direction. Many were killed and wounded while fifteen rebels were taken prisoners. The attackers were a group of guerrillas from the Union Forces. (United States War Department et al., 1884)

There were many disadvantages and instances of failure in the conduct of guerrilla war. Instances of how people wanted to form and employ guerrilla tactics or schemes could be seen from these phrases taken from the database on “War on the Rebellion.”

A Louisianian announced that it was very advantageous for “a regiment of mounted men, on the guerrilla order,” on the southern parts of his state, and so he asked that he be allowed by the Confederate government to do so.

Another man, an Alabamian, asked permission to raise a group to conduct guerrilla tactics without “restraint and under no orders.” A guerrilla leader said his group of 300 guerrillas conducted a raid and inflicted heavy damage to a Union unit in the summer of 1862 in Alabama. (United States War Department et al., 1884)

The concept of war of attrition, which was designed by Confederate President Jefferson Davis, involved guerrilla war strategies. The concept was based on the strategy of George Washington during the American Revolution against the British forces. By applying guerrilla tactics, the Confederates could gain time before they could seek help from foreign allies.

Davis appointed diplomats who used their skill in attaining foreign sympathies, especially the British. This plan failed when the diplomats were captured by a Union officer while they were on their mission to gain British support. The war of attrition was opposed by General Robert Lee who wanted a strong strike against the Union Forces. (West, 2006, paras. 6-7)

The “Anaconda” plan, designed to blockade the Atlantic and Gulf coasts to weaken the economic and political bases of the Confederacy, was destined to fail from its early inception.

It was a master plan of General Winfield Scott, chief of all generals of the Union forces, but which was not supported by President Lincoln. Scott argued that the Confederates had no navy to support its army and therefore it would be easy to attack the Confederates in the Mississippi coasts cutting the Confederates export of cotton, possible import of weapons and help from foreign allies.

The Union forces would then invade the open areas of the Mississippi River. Scott theorized that this strategy would need 300,000 men and about two years to accomplish. The Anaconda plan was a long-range and large scale operation of the Union forces as against the Confederates’ war of attrition involving guerrilla tactics. (Encyclopedia Virginia: Anaconda plan,n.d.)

Guerrilla warfare was never used on a large scale because Confederate political and military leaders tied to traditional, hierarchical forms of social and military organization did not trust the men who came from grassroots and fear the results of such unregulated mode of fighting. The guerrilla tactics were first used for local defense but Confederate leaders underestimated it and failed to tap its advantage.

The Confederate generals wanted to use guerrilla warfare when they realized they were outnumbered; their armies accounted for just about 55 percent of the opposing forces. The Union’s population was more than double the Confederacy. General Robert Lee was at first opposed to the guerrilla strategy but applied it in later campaigns, especially when he saw that his troops were outnumbered. (Sutherland, 2002)

The guerrilla war befits its true name, a people’s war. There were irregulars here and there asking for authorization from higher-ups of the Confederacy so they could form smaller guerrilla forces and operate with guerrilla tactics.

The ways of the guerrillas however were questionable since they prepared the guerrilla ways, even in the far reaches of the country. They used this in the west and the North-South border. As the war went on, they became desperate as they attacked Union mail trains. In August 1861, Unionists asked United States Simon Cameron as rebels controlled the state government. (Sutherland, 2002)

The Union forces attacked both the Confederate soldiers and their civilian supporters to finally crash the enemy. They forced the sword on all sides of the enemy, particularly the people who supported the Confederate armies. The Confederacy was now reduced in number; their smaller gains were done through guerrilla tactics.

General Robert Lee felt that time was on the side of the enemy and that the Union armies had the initiative. Lee opposed his president’s concept of attrition. He did not want a defensive strategy since the way of taking advantage of the Confederate’s limited resources was to have a general action so that the Union forces would abandon the war. (Sutherland, 2000)

The Confederate’s strong force during the final years of the war was General Lee’s Army which was concentrated in Northern Virginia. With a frontal attack, the Union army could not defeat Lee’s formidable army, and so the coastal wars began with the strategy of attacking Confederate supplies. To weaken Lee by attacking the logistics was one of the objectives of the coastal wars. This stage of the war was very crucial. (Murray, 2011, p. 114)

The Navy Board’s plan was for the forces to implement through a step by step process. The Federal Army wanted to create the lines over which they could operate effectively because they were only holding the southern bases. This was a long stretch of coastal areas difficult to control.

Thus, the Atlantic Campaign had to be an effective operation, a theatre that had to be played in sequence, i.e. to capture every area to lead to the final objective, strangling the Confederate Army by way of capturing the areas they controlled and their logistics. (Dougherty, 2010)

The Atlantic Campaign started on August of 1861 when the Union forces landed men and big guns on the Confederate-controlled port of Hatteras. The Union bombardment created heavy damage and they had a successful landing. This stage involved taking control of the area so that the forces could provide rapid and uninterrupted attacks. A specific area was the Port Royal but there were also identified ports in the Gulf that had to be controlled.

These were strategic points to give the forces areas to operate and proceed to their final objective, the taking over of Fort Clark. On the other hand, the coastal wars were also General Lee’s final line of defense. What happened was a battle like no other battle – the Federals against the Confederates firing their guns along the Atlantic. The Hatteras Inlet was a key passage to North Carolina which had become a haven of pirates and brigands disguised as guerrillas.

The Secretary of the Navy of the United States at that time wrote that the blockade would benefit the people of North Carolina. Fort Hatteras and Fort Clark were heavily defended by the Confederates such that the battle was the most heavily fought during the Civil War. This was one proof that the guerrilla war did not work. (Dougherty, 2010)

References

Dougherty, K. (2010). Strangling the confederacy: Coastal operations in the American civil war. Pennsylvania: Casemate Publishers.

Encyclopedia Virginia: Anaconda plan. (n.d.). Web.

Murray, W. (2011). War, strategy, and military effectiveness. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Sutherland, D. (2002). Guerrilla warfare, democracy, and the fate of the confederacy. Southern Historical Association, 68(2), 259-292. Web.

United States War Department, Moody, J., Cowles, C., Ainsworth, F., Scott, R., Lazelle, H.,…Kirkley, J. (1884). War of the rebellion: a compilation of the official records of the Union and Confederate armies, series 1, volume 10 (part I). Web.

West, M. (2006). Did the Confederates have a master plan?. Web.

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The American Civil War: Rules, Chronology and Turning Points

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