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Confederate States of America (view source)
Revision as of 23:11, November 30, 2009
, 23:11, November 30, 2009→Beginnings: add geography
Starting in 1862 General [[Robert E. Lee]] led the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia against the Union armies, which were led by various generals appointed by [[Abraham Lincoln]], with the last, and most successful being General [[Ulysses S. Grant]]. Lee proved a tenacious defender of Richmond, which had an exposed position and a long, difficult supply line. Grant wore down Lee's army, which was unable to replace its casualties and desertions.
Starting in 1862 General [[Robert E. Lee]] led the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia against the Union armies, which were led by various generals appointed by [[Abraham Lincoln]], with the last, and most successful being General [[Ulysses S. Grant]]. Lee proved a tenacious defender of Richmond, which had an exposed position and a long, difficult supply line. Grant wore down Lee's army, which was unable to replace its casualties and desertions.
==Geography==
The Confederate States of America claimed a total of 2,919 miles (4,698 km) of coastline. A large part of this territory lay on the sea coast with level and sandy ground. The interior portions were hilly and mountainous, and the far western territories were deserts. The lower reaches of the [[Mississippi River]] bisected the country, with the western half referred to as the Trans-Mississippi.
===Climate===
Much of the area claimed by the CSA had a humid subtropical climate with mild winters and long, hot, humid summers. The climate varied to semi-arid steppe and arid desert west of longitude 96 degrees west. The subtropical climate made winters mild but allowed infectious diseases to flourish. Consequently disease killed more soldiers than did enemy action.
===River system===
In peacetime, the vast system of navigable rivers allowed for cheap and easy transportation of farm products. The railroad system was built as a supplement, tying plantation areas to the nearest river or seaport. The vast geography made for difficult Union logistics, and Union soldiers were used to garrison captured areas and protect rail lines. But the [[Union Navy]] seized most of the navigable rivers by 1862, making its own logistics easy and Confederate movements difficult. After the fall of Vicksburg in July 1863, it became impossible for units of any size to cross the Mississippi since Union gunboats constantly patrolled it. The South thus lost use of its western regions.
===Rural areas===
The area claimed by the Confederate States of America was overwhelmingly rural. Small towns of more than 1,000 were few — the typical county seat had a population of less than 500 people. Cities were rare. New Orleans was the only Southern city in the list of top 10 largest U.S. cities in the 1860 census, and it was captured by the Union in 1862. Only 13 Confederate cities ranked among the top 100 U.S. cities in 1860, most of them ports whose economic activities were shut down by the [[Union blockade]]. The population of Richmond swelled after it became the national capital, reaching an estimated 128,000 in 1864 (Dabney 1990:182). Other large Southern cities Baltimore, St. Louis, Louisville, and Washington, as well as Wheeling, West Virginia, and Alexandria, Virginia, were never under the control of the Confederate government.
<br clear="all">
{| class="wikitable" align="center"
|- style="background: #efefef;"
! # !! City !! 1860 Population !! [[List of United States metropolitan statistical areas by population|US Rank]]
| return to USA control
|-
| style="background: #efefef;" | 1.
| [[New Orleans, Louisiana]]
| style="text-align: right; padding-right: 1em;" | 168,675
| style="text-align: right; padding-right: 1em;" | 6
| 1862
|-
| style="background: #efefef;" | 2.
| [[Charleston, South Carolina]]
| style="text-align: right; padding-right: 1em;" | 40,522
| style="text-align: right; padding-right: 1em;" | 22
| 1865
|-
| style="background: #efefef;" | 3.
| [[Richmond, Virginia]]
| style="text-align: right; padding-right: 1em;" | 37,910
| style="text-align: right; padding-right: 1em;" | 25
| 1865
|-
| style="background: #efefef;" | 4.
| [[Mobile, Alabama]]
| style="text-align: right; padding-right: 1em;" | 29,258
| style="text-align: right; padding-right: 1em;" | 27
| 1865
|-
| style="background: #efefef;" | 5.
| [[Memphis, Tennessee]]
| style="text-align: right; padding-right: 1em;" | 22,623
| style="text-align: right; padding-right: 1em;" | 38
| 1862
|-
| style="background: #efefef;" | 6.
| [[Savannah, Georgia]]
| style="text-align: right; padding-right: 1em;" | 22,292
| style="text-align: right; padding-right: 1em;" | 41
| 1864
|-
| style="background: #efefef;" | 7.
| [[Petersburg, Virginia]]
| style="text-align: right; padding-right: 1em;" | 18,266
| style="text-align: right; padding-right: 1em;" | 50
| 1865
|-
| style="background: #efefef;" | 8.
| [[Nashville, Tennessee]]
| style="text-align: right; padding-right: 1em;" | 16,988
| style="text-align: right; padding-right: 1em;" | 54
| 1862
|-
| style="background: #efefef;" | 9.
| [[Norfolk, Virginia]]
| style="text-align: right; padding-right: 1em;" | 14,620
| style="text-align: right; padding-right: 1em;" | 61
| 1862
|-
| style="background: #efefef;" | 10.
| [[Augusta, Georgia]]
| style="text-align: right; padding-right: 1em;" | 12,493
| style="text-align: right; padding-right: 1em;" | 77
| 1865
|-
| style="background: #efefef;" | 11.
| [[Columbus, Georgia]]
| style="text-align: right; padding-right: 1em;" | 9,621
| style="text-align: right; padding-right: 1em;" | 97
| 1865
|-
| style="background: #efefef;" | 12.
| [[Atlanta, Georgia]]
| style="text-align: right; padding-right: 1em;" | 9,554
| style="text-align: right; padding-right: 1em;" | 99
| 1864
|-
| style="background: #efefef;" | 13.
| [[Wilmington, North Carolina]]
| style="text-align: right; padding-right: 1em;" | 9,553
| style="text-align: right; padding-right: 1em;" | 100
| 1865
|}
{{-}}
''(See also [[Atlanta in the Civil War]], [[Charleston, SC in the Civil War]], [[Nashville in the Civil War]], [[New Orleans in the Civil War]], and [[Richmond in the Civil War]]).''
== Ideology ==
== Ideology ==