Difference between revisions of "Confederate States of America"
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An unknown number of [[civilians]] also died, in part as a result of the campaign of organized plunder in late 1864 and early 1865 by the troops of [[Union]] [[General]] [[William Tecumseh Sherman]] which helped not only to destroy the will of the Confederacy to fight, but literally to destroy the [[infrastructure]] of the Confederacy. Severe damage was inflicted on both urban and rural communities in the South, and hundreds of thousands of people became refugees. The exigencies of [[total war]] had led to the destruction of Southern infrastructure, in particular [[railroads]], long before 1864, but never on such a scale. | An unknown number of [[civilians]] also died, in part as a result of the campaign of organized plunder in late 1864 and early 1865 by the troops of [[Union]] [[General]] [[William Tecumseh Sherman]] which helped not only to destroy the will of the Confederacy to fight, but literally to destroy the [[infrastructure]] of the Confederacy. Severe damage was inflicted on both urban and rural communities in the South, and hundreds of thousands of people became refugees. The exigencies of [[total war]] had led to the destruction of Southern infrastructure, in particular [[railroads]], long before 1864, but never on such a scale. | ||
| − | [[Total war]] based on modern technology was confirmed as the mode in which [[nation-states]] would fight each other throughout the industrial age. Simultaneously with the Union the Confederacy launched the first seagoing [[ironclad]] warships. | + | [[Total war]] based on modern technology was confirmed as the mode in which [[nation-states]] would fight each other throughout the industrial age. Simultaneously with the Union the Confederacy launched the first seagoing [[ironclad]] warships. With the possible exception of the [[Prussia|Prussians]] and [[Great Britain|British]], it is unlikely that any country of comparable population and technology in the 1860's could have resisted the Union onslaught for as long as the Confederacy did. This is considered by some historians to represent a major moral victory for the Confederacy. An equally impressive moral victory was the decision by General Lee on April 9, 1865 to rule out continuing to fight as [[insurgents]]; although it can be argued that this only delayed the inevitable failure of [[Reconstruction]], it also made physical rebuilding possible in a way it would not be in the latter stages of civil wars in other countries in the [[20th century]]. Notional or real, its superiority man for man (and especially general for general) was permanently impressed on the South, which today remains more pro-military than any other region of the United States as measured by percentage of voluntary [[enlistment|enlistments]]. |
== See also == | == See also == | ||
Revision as of 20:07, May 29, 2007
| |
| The Civil War
1861 - 1865 | |
|---|---|
| Confederate States of America | |
| Created | February 4, 1861 |
| Ended | April 9, 1865 |
| President | Jefferson Davis |
| Secretary of War | Leroy Pope Walker, Judah P. Benjamin, George W. Randolph, James Seddon, John C. Breckinridge |
| Secretary of the Navy | Stephan Mallory |
| Secretary of State | Robert Toombs, Robert M.T. Hunter, Judah P. Benjamin |
The Confederate States of America were an alliance of 11 southern American states who fought against the Union states in the American Civil War (1861 to 1865). General Robert E. Lee led the Confederate forces into battle against the armies of the Northern states, led by various generals appointed by Abraham Lincoln. The Confederate states seceded from the North after Lincoln's triumph in the 1860 Presidential election led them to consider newly plausible the threats of radical abolitionists to end slavery, which they viewed as a matter of states' rights that should not be enforced at the federal level.
The president of the Confederate States of America was Jefferson Davis, a former Secretary of War under President Franklin Pierce and later Senator from Mississippi. Richmond, Virginia was the capital of the Confederacy after that state seceded in mid-April of 1861 following the surrender of Fort Sumter and Lincoln's call for volunteers, and one day before the Pratt Street riot in Baltimore, Maryland, the first battle of the Civil War to kill Americans on both sides. Only four states where slavery was legal failed to secede -- Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland and Missouri. It was a near thing in the latter three states, which all wound up raising regiments for the Confederacy as well as the Union, although not as an official act of their governments.
Legacy - Physical/Military
The principal physical legacy of the Confederacy was mass fratricidal destruction. Four years of Civil War killed at least 620,000 soldiers (counting deaths from disease as well as in battle), of whom approximately 260,000 were from the Confederacy. This represented a much larger fraction (slightly over one quarter) of the Confederacy's military age men than was lost by the Union.
An unknown number of civilians also died, in part as a result of the campaign of organized plunder in late 1864 and early 1865 by the troops of Union General William Tecumseh Sherman which helped not only to destroy the will of the Confederacy to fight, but literally to destroy the infrastructure of the Confederacy. Severe damage was inflicted on both urban and rural communities in the South, and hundreds of thousands of people became refugees. The exigencies of total war had led to the destruction of Southern infrastructure, in particular railroads, long before 1864, but never on such a scale.
Total war based on modern technology was confirmed as the mode in which nation-states would fight each other throughout the industrial age. Simultaneously with the Union the Confederacy launched the first seagoing ironclad warships. With the possible exception of the Prussians and British, it is unlikely that any country of comparable population and technology in the 1860's could have resisted the Union onslaught for as long as the Confederacy did. This is considered by some historians to represent a major moral victory for the Confederacy. An equally impressive moral victory was the decision by General Lee on April 9, 1865 to rule out continuing to fight as insurgents; although it can be argued that this only delayed the inevitable failure of Reconstruction, it also made physical rebuilding possible in a way it would not be in the latter stages of civil wars in other countries in the 20th century. Notional or real, its superiority man for man (and especially general for general) was permanently impressed on the South, which today remains more pro-military than any other region of the United States as measured by percentage of voluntary enlistments.
See also
American Civil War: 1861 American Civil War: 1862 American Civil War: 1863 American Civil War: 1864 American Civil War: 1865 American Civil War: Aftermath
