democratic platform, 1860 (douglas...

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Democratic Platform, 1860 (Douglas faction) 2 Democratic Platform, 1860 (Breckinridge faction) 4 Republican Platform, 1860 6 Letter from General Robert E. Lee to General Philip St. George Cocke 10 The Civil War as an Opportunity to Abolish Slavery and Destroy the Slave Power 12 Battle Hymn of the Republic 14 The Mood in Marietta, Ohio, at the Beginning of the Civil War 16 The Civil War Begins 18 Reflections on the War's Causes 20

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Page 1: Democratic Platform, 1860 (Douglas faction)coachnason.weebly.com/uploads/3/0/4/6/30468014/all.do…  · Web viewDemocratic Platform, 1860 (Douglas faction)2. Democratic Platform,

Democratic Platform, 1860 (Douglas faction) 2

Democratic Platform, 1860 (Breckinridge faction) 4

Republican Platform, 1860 6

Letter from General Robert E. Lee to General Philip

St. George Cocke 10

The Civil War as an Opportunity to Abolish Slavery

and Destroy the Slave Power 12

Battle Hymn of the Republic 14

The Mood in Marietta, Ohio, at the Beginning of the

Civil War 16

The Civil War Begins 18

Reflections on the War's Causes 20

Life in Camp After the First Battle of Bull Run 22

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Democratic Platform, 1860 (Douglas faction)Digital History ID 3950

Date:1860Annotation: The slavery dispute dominated the election of 1860. The emphasis placed on the Dred Scott decision (that Scott remain a slave) splintered the Democratic Party into three factions: Most Northern Democrats supported Stephen A. Douglas; Southern delegates adopted a pro-slavery stance and nominated John C. Breckinridge; more moderate Southerners nominated John Bell, who called for preserving the Union.The party divisions gave Abraham Lincoln’s Republican Party a significant advantage. Lincoln won the presidential race and vowed to keep slavery out of the territories. While Lincoln was considered an anti-slavery president, he was not an abolitionist. The secession of Southern states sealed the fate of the Union, as Lincoln failed to rally national consensus to settle the dispute over the future of slavery.

Document: Democratic Platform of 1860 (Douglas faction)June 18, 1860 Baltimore, Maryland1. Resolved, That we, the Democracy of the Union in Convention assembled, hereby declare our affirmance of the resolutions unanimously adopted and declared as a platform of principles by the Democratic convention at Cincinnati, in the year 1856, believing that Democratic principles are unchangeable in their nature, when applied to the same subject matters; and we recommend, as the only further resolutions, the following:2. Inasmuch as difference of opinion exists in the Democratic Party as to the nature and extent of the powers of a Territorial Legislature, and as to the powers and duties of Congress, under the Constitution of the United States, over the institution of slavery within the Territories, Resolved, That the Democratic

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party will abide by the decision of the Supreme Court of the United States upon these questions of Constitutional law.3. Resolved, That it is the duty of the United States to afford ample and complete protection to all its citizens, whether at home or abroad, and whether native or foreign born.4. Resolved, That one of the necessities of the age, in a military, commercial, and postal point of view, is speedy communication between the Atlantic and Pacific States; and the Democratic party pledge such Constitutional Government aid as will insure the construction of a Railroad to the Pacific coast, at the earliest practicable period.5. Resolved That the Democratic Party are in favor of the acquisition of the Island of Cuba on such terms as shall be honorable to ourselves and just to Spain.6. Resolved, that the enactments of the State Legislatures to defeat the faithful execution of the Fugitive Slave Law, are hostile in character, subversive of the Constitution, and revolutionary in their effect.7. Resolved, That it is in accordance with the interpretation of the Cincinnati platform, that during the existence of the Territorial Governments the measure of restriction, whatever it may be, imposed by the Federal Constitution on the power of the Territorial Legislature over the subject of the domestic relations, as the same has been, or shall hereafter be finally determined by the Supreme Court of the United States, should be respected by all good citizens, and enforced with promptness and fidelity by every branch of the general government.

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Democratic Platform, 1860 (Breckinridge faction)Digital History ID 3951

Date:1860Annotation: John C. Breckinridge served as President Buchanan’s vice president. Later, he became the presidential candidate in the 1860 election, after the Democratic Party split into three factions. He represented the Southern faction in support of slavery. According to Breckinridge, the federal or local governments lacked the power to restrict slavery in any of the territories. He believed in secession as a right; however, at the time of the election, he disapproved of states exercising that right.

Document: Democratic Platform of 1860 (Breckinridge Faction)June, 1860 Richmond, VirginiaResolved, that the platform adopted by the Democratic Party at Cincinnati be affirmed, with the following explanatory resolutions:1. That the Government of a Territory organized by an act of Congress is provisional and temporary, and during its existence all citizens of the United States have an equal right to settle with their property in the Territory, without their rights, either of person or property, being destroyed or impaired by Congressional or Territorial legislation.2. That it is the duty of the Federal Government, in all its departments, to protect, when necessary, the rights of persons and property in the Territories, and wherever else its constitutional authority extends.3. That when the settlers in a Territory, having an adequate population, form a State Constitution, the right of sovereignty commences, and being consummated by admission into the Union, they stand on an equal footing with the people of other States, and the State thus organized ought to be admitted into

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the Federal Union, whether its constitution prohibits or recognizes the institution of slavery.Resolved, That the Democratic party are in favor of the acquisition of the Island of Cuba, on such terms as shall be honorable to ourselves and just to Spain, at the earliest practicable moment.Resolved, That the enactments of State Legislatures to defeat the faithful execution of the Fugitive Slave Law are hostile in character, subversive of the Constitution, and revolutionary in their effect.Resolved, That the Democracy of the United States recognize it as the imperative duty of this Government to protect the naturalized citizen in all his rights, whether at home or in foreign lands, to the same extent as its native-born citizens.Whereas, one of the greatest necessities of the age, in a political, commercial, postal and military point of view, is speedy communication between the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. Therefore be itResolved, that the National Democratic party do hereby pledge themselves to use every means in their power to secure the passage of some bill, to the extent of the constitutional authority of Congress, for the construction of a Pacific Railroad from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean, at the earliest practicable moment.

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Republican Platform, 1860Digital History ID 3952

Date:1860Annotation: During the presidential election of 1860, the Republican Party promised to prohibit slavery. They also proposed free-homestead legislation, the establishment of a daily mail service, a transcontinental railroad, and support of the protective tariff. Three candidates opposed Lincoln: Stephen Douglas representing the Northern faction of the Democratic Party; John C. Breckenridge representing the Southern faction; and John Bell, representing the Constitutional Union Party. Lincoln won the election with 39 percent of the popular vote. He also received a half a million more votes than his closest rival, Stephen Douglas. Barely a month after Lincoln was inaugurated, the Civil War began.

Document: The Republican Party Platform of 1860 Chicago, Illinois, May 16, 1860Resolved, that we, the delegated representatives of the Republican electors of the United States, in Convention assembled, in discharge of the duty we owe to our constituents and our country, unite in the following declarations:1. That the history of the nation, during the last four years, has fully established the proprietary and necessity of the organization and perpetuation of the Republican Party, and that the causes which called it into existence are permanent in their nature, and now, more than ever before, demand its peaceful and constitutional triumph.2. That the maintenance of the principles promulgated in the Declaration of Independence and embodied in the Federal Constitution, "That all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness; that, to

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secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed." is essential to the preservation of our Republican institutions; and that the Federal Constitution, the Rights of the States, and the Union of the States, must and shall be preserved.3. That to the Union of the States this nation owes its unprecedented increase in population, its surprising development of material resources, its rapid augmentation of wealth, its happiness at home and its honor abroad; and we hold in abhorrence all schemes for Disunion, come from whatever source they may; And we congratulate the country that no Republican member of Congress has uttered or countenanced the threats of Disunion so often made by Democratic members, without rebuke and with applause from their political associates; and we denounce those threats of Disunion, in case of a popular overthrow of their ascendancy, as denying the vital principles of a free government, and as an avowal of contemplated treason, which it is the imperative duty of an indignant People sternly to rebuke and forever silence.4. That the maintenance inviolate of the rights of the States, and especially the right of each State to order and control its own domestic institutions according to its own judgment exclusively, is essential to that balance of powers on which the perfection and endurance of our political fabric depends; and we denounce the lawless invasion by armed force of the soil of any State or Territory, no matter under what pretext, as among the gravest of crimes.5. That the present Democratic Administration has far exceeded our worst apprehensions, in its measureless subserviency to the exactions of a sectional interest, as especially evidenced in its desperate exertions to force the infamous Lecompton constitution upon the protesting people of Kansas; in construing the personal relation between master and servant to involve an unqualified property in persons; in its attempted enforcement, everywhere, on land and sea, through the intervention of Congress and of the Federal Courts of the extreme pretensions of a purely local interest; and in its general and unvarying abuse of the power entrusted to it by a confiding people. . . .7. That the new dogma that the Constitution, of its own force, carries Slavery into any or all of the Territories of the United States, is a dangerous political heresy, at variance with the explicit provisions of that instrument itself, with

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contemporaneous exposition, and with legislative and judicial precedent; is revolutionary in its tendency, and subversive of the peace and harmony of the country.8. That the normal condition of all the territory of the United States is that of freedom; That as our Republican fathers, when they had abolished slavery in all our national territory, ordained that "no person should be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law," it becomes our duty, by legislation, whenever such legislation is necessary, to maintain this provision of the Constitution against all attempts to violate it; and we deny the authority of Congress, of a territorial legislature, or of any individuals, to give legal existence to Slavery in any Territory of the United States.9. That we brand the recent re-opening of the African slave- trade, under the cover of our national flag, aided by perversions of judicial power, as a crime against humanity and a burning shame to our country and age; and we call upon Congress to take prompt and efficient measures for the total and final suppression of that execrable traffic.10. That in the recent vetoes, by their Federal Governors, of the acts of the Legislatures of Kansas and Nebraska, prohibiting Slavery in those Territories, we find a practical illustration of the boasted Democratic principle of Non-Intervention and Popular Sovereignty embodied in the Kansas-Nebraska bill, and a demonstration of the deception and fraud involved therein.11. That Kansas should, of right, be immediately admitted as a State under the Constitution recently formed and adopted by her people, and accepted by the House of Representatives.12. That, while providing revenue for the support of the General Government by duties upon imports, sound policy requires such an adjustment of these imposts as to encourage the development of the industrial interests of the whole country; and we commend that policy of national exchanges which secures to the working men liberal wages, to agriculture remunerating prices, to mechanics and manufacturers an adequate reward for their skill, labor and enterprise, and to the nation commercial prosperity and independence.13. That we protest against any sale or alienation to others of the Public Lands held by actual settlers and against any view of the Homestead policy which regards the settlers as paupers or supplicants for public bounty; and we demand the passage by Congress of the complete and satisfactory Homestead measure

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which has already passed the house.14. That the Republican Party is opposed to any change in our Naturalization Laws or any State legislation by which the rights of our citizenship hitherto accorded to immigrants from foreign lands shall be abridged or impaired; and in favor of giving a full and efficient protection to the rights of all classes of citizens, whether native or naturalized, both at home and abroad.15. That appropriations by Congress for River and Harbor improvements of a National character, required for the accommodation and security of an existing commerce, are authorized by the Constitution, and justified by the obligations of Government to protect the lives and property of its citizens.16. That a Railroad to the Pacific Ocean is imperatively demanded by the interests of the whole country; that the Federal Government ought to render immediate and efficient aid in its construction; and that, as preliminary thereto, a daily Overland Mail should be promptly established. . . .

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Letter from General Robert E. Lee to General Philip St. George Cocke Digital History ID 418Author:   Robert E. Lee Date:1861Annotation:Lincoln was convinced that the Confederate states had seceded from the Union for the sole purpose of maintaining slavery. Like President Jackson before him, he considered the Union to be permanent, an agreement by the people and not just of the states. Further, he strongly agreed with the sentiments voiced by Daniel Webster (1782-1852), when that Whig Senator declared in 1830, "Liberty and Union, now and forever, one and inseparable." Lincoln, too, believed that a strong Union provided the only firm safeguard for American liberties and republican institutions. By attacking Fort Sumter, the Confederacy had directly challeged federal authority. And so the war came.Lincoln responded to the attack on Fort Sumter by calling on the states to provide 75,000 militia men for 90 days service. Twice that number volunteered. But the eight slave states still in the Union refused to furnish troops, and four--Arkansas, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia--seceded.One individual who felt especially torn by the decision to support the Union or join the Confederacy was Robert E. Lee (1807-1870) of Virginia. Lee was Winfield Scott's choice to serve as field commander of the Union army, but when a state convention voted to secede, he resigned from the U.S. army, announcing to his sister that he could not "raise my hand against my birthplace, my home, my children. Save in defense of my native state, I hope I may never be called on to draw my sword." After joining the Confederate army, he predicted "that the country will have to pass through a terrible ordeal, a necessary expiation perhaps for national sins."

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Document:Establish your Head Quarters as necessary. Establish camps of instruction, and have you troops instructed in the use of their different arms. Make the necessary arrangements for their support. No bacon is to be had in Virginia. Consult with merchants in Alexandria as to the feasibility of obtaining bacon from Ohio, or Kentucky, if this is not practicable, beef & mutton must be your meat ration; the Valley of Virginia will naturally suggest itself to you as the point, from which this part of the ration can be obtained.Let it be known that you intend to make no attack; but invasion of our soil will be considered as an act of war.Very few officers of experience have as yet reported, as soon as possible some will be sent to you....

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The Civil War as an Opportunity to Abolish Slavery and Destroy the Slave PowerDigital History ID 412Author:   John Jay III Date:1861Annotation:In July 1861, Congress adopted a resolution by a vote of 117 to 2 in the House and 30 to 5 in the Senate that read: "This war is not waged...for the purpose of overthrowing or interfering with the established institutions of those States, but to maintain the States unimpaired; and that as soon as these objects are accomplished the war should cease." Fearful of alienating the slave states that remained in the Union--Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland, and Missouri--or of antagonizing Northerners who would support anti-war Democrats if the conflict were transformed into a war to abolish slavery, Lincoln felt that he had to proceed cautiously. Nevertheless, opponents of slavery, like the abolitionist attorney John Jay (1817-1894), the author of this letter and grandson of the Revolutionary War patriot, regarded the war as a providential opportunity to destroy slavery and the slave power.

Document:We have an agency at work for the abolition of slavery in the pending war more powerful than all the Conventions we could assemble. Every battle fought will teach our soldiers & the nation at large that slavery is the great cause of the war, that it is slavery which has brutalized & barbarized the South & that slavery must be abolished as our army advances as a military necessity....I look presently see the entire north...demanding the abolition of slavery not from their Christian regard for the rights of the slave but from motives that partake rather of self-interest--& from a

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conviction induced only by arguments and by facts that it is slavery alone that has reduced us to our present state.The continuance of the war, with the unanimous and hearty approval of the whole north...that I would not run the risk of weakening it by an active antislavery movement. Let us polish our tones in patience--for I think I have already seen the beginning of the end.

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Battle Hymn of the RepublicDigital History ID 4010Author:   Julia Ward Howe Date:1861Annotation: This is the text of The Battle Hymn of the Republic.Julia Ward Howe wrote this original version of the "Battle Hymn of the Republic" in 1861. This well-known Civil War song has become an American patriotic anthem.Some of the words in later versions were rewritten:The line referring to the soldiers in the Civil War "As he died to make men holy, let us die to make men free" has been changed to "As he died to make men holy, let us live to make men free."The word "succor" has been changed to "honor."The "soul of Time" has been changed to "soul of wrong."References to God have been capitalized.

Document:Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord. He is trampling out the wine press, where the grapes of wrath are stored, He hath loosed the fateful lightnings of his terrible swift sword, His truth is marching on.I have seen him in the watchfires of an hundred circling camps They have builded him an altar in the evening dews and damps, I can read His righteous sentence by the dim and flaring lamps, His day is marching on.I have read a burning Gospel writ in fiery rows of steel, As ye deal with my condemners, so with you my grace shall deal, Let the hero born of woman, crush the serpent with his heel, Our God is marching on.He has sounded out the trumpet that shall never call retreat, He has waked the earth's dull sorrow with a high ecstatic beat, Oh! Be swift my soul to answer him, be jubilant my feet! Our God is marching on.

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In the whiteness of the lilies he was born across the sea, With a glory in his bosom that shines out on you and me, As he died to make men holy, let us die to make men free, Our God is marching on.He is coming like the glory of the morning on the wave, He is wisdom to the mighty; he is succor to the brave, So the world shall be his footstool, and the soul of Time his slave, Our God is marching on.

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The Mood in Marietta, Ohio, at the Beginning of the Civil WarDigital History ID 405Author:   Frederic Pearce Date:1861Annotation:Many Northerners felt confident of a quick victory. In 1861, the Union states had 22.5 million people, compared to just 9 million in the Confederate states (including 3.7 million slaves). Not only did the Union have more manpower, it also had a larger navy, a more developed railroad system, and a stronger manufacturing base. The North had 1.3 million industrial workers, compared to the South's 110,000. Northern factories manufactured nine times as many industrial goods as the South; seventeen times as many cotton and woolen goods; thirty times as many boots and shoes; twenty times as much pig iron; twenty-four times as many railroad locomotives--and 33 times as many firearms.But Confederates also felt confident. For one thing, the Confederacy had only to wage a defensive war and wait for northern morale to erode. In contrast, the Union had to conquer and control the Confederacy's 750,000 square miles of territory. Further, the Confederate army seemed superior to that of the Union. More Southerners had attended West Point or other military academies, had served as army officers, and had experience using firearms and horses. At the beginning of 1861, the U.S. army consisted of only 16,000 men, most of whom served on the frontier fighting Indians. History, too, seemed to be on the South's side. Before the Civil War, most nations that had fought for independence, including, of course, the United States, had won their struggle. A school textbook epitomized southern confidence: "If one Confederate soldier can whip seven Yankees," it asked, "how many soldiers can whip 49 Yanks?"In this selection, a resident of Marietta, Ohio reports the mood in his town.

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Document:Nothing new here in the way of war items. The people here are wide awake on the subject, and quite a number of companies are drilling, and putting themselves in a state of readiness for anything that may happen. It is not expected, however, that we shall be disturbed, as it is thought eastern Virginia will soon have her hands full without giving much attention to us. It seems now that before long a culmination point will be reached, and the battle opened-- It should and doubtless will, be the prayer of all Christians that it may be speedily terminated and the rebellion crushed.

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The Civil War BeginsDigital History ID 428

Date:1861Annotation:Upon learning of Lincoln's plan, Jefferson Davis ordered General Pierre G.T. Beauregard (1818-1893) to force Fort Sumter's surrender before the supply mission could arrive. At 4:30 a.m. April 12, Confederate guns began firing on Fort Sumter. Thirty-three hours later, the installation surrendered. Incredibly, there were no fatalities on their side.Ironically, the only fatalities at Fort Sumter occurred just after the battle ended. During the surrender ceremony, a pile of cartridges ignited, killing one soldier, fatally wounding another, and injuring four.

Document:TERRIBLE NEWS!THE FIGHT RAGES!FORT SUMTER ON FIRE!WASHINGTON IN DANGER!SURRENDER OF FORT SUMTER!REBEL VICTORY!The Fleet to Enter the HarborThe opinion prevails that an attempt will be made before sunrise to run the eight draught vessels of the fleet up to Fort Sumter to reenforce Major Anderson and also supply him with provisions.

The Battle Still Raging

The cannonading is going on fiercely from all points, from the vessels outside and all along the coast.

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It is reported that Fort Sumter is on fire.Fort Sumter on Fire!The roof of Fort Sumter is in a sheet of blaze. Major Anderson has ceased firing to extinguish it. Two of his magazines have exploded. The shells are flying over and around Fort Sumter in quick succession. The war vessels cannot get in on account of the ebbing tide. They are at anchor. Fort Moultrie appears to be considerably disabled. The Federal flag still waves over Fort Sumter.Anderson's Shells fly by Thick and FastAt intervals of twenty minutes the firing was kept up all night on Fort Sumter. Major Anderson's strongest shells fly thick and fast, and they can be seen in their course from the Charleston City Battery.How Lincoln Received the NewsThe President received the war news calmly.Good News from TexasDispatches from Col. Wade, commander of the Texan forces states that a strong Union feeling is growing.Gov. [Sam] Houston predicts the return of the secessionists to their allegiance, they are terrible taxed. Houston has been offered armed support by the Mormons in every part of the State.Sumter in DistressThe flag on Fort Sumter is at half mast--signal of distress.Sumter Shows the White Flag!The White Flag was raised, and Fort Sumter surrendered this evening.

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Reflections on the War's CausesDigital History ID 401Author:   David Hopkins Date:1861Annotation:In its analysis of the Civil War's causes, the London Times rejected the notion that this was a war about slavery. It argued that the conflict had the same roots as most wars: territorial aggrandizement, political power, and economic supremacy. But few Northerners or Southerners saw the war in such simple terms. To many white southern soldiers, it was a war to preserve their liberty and their way of life, to prevent abolition and its consequences--race war, racial amalgamation, and, according to one militant Southerner's words, "the Africanization of the South." To many northern soldiers, it was a war to preserve the Union, uphold the Constitution, and defeat a ruthless slave power, which had threatened to subvert republican ideals of liberty and equality.In the following letter, a Philadelphian offers his reflections on the war's causes.

Document:...There are may wrongs to be righted beside the one done to the Negro race. Sailors today in both the Merchants and Navy services of the U.S. are worse used than the slaves in the South. I don't mean by this any apology for the "Sacred Institution"...I believe that slavery is the cause of this war. The men who have struck this blow at our government are playing for a bigger stake than the right to hold or extend slavery. It is intended to be a death blow to our form of Government. Some three years ago...[a southern] Gov[ernor]...said...he was opposed to every thing that had the word free prefixed. He meant just what he said--and he and others have played their cards accordingly ever since.

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Life in Camp After the First Battle of Bull RunDigital History ID 410Author:   James R. Kelly Date:1861Annotation:The Civil War was the deadliest war in American history. Altogether, over 600,000 died in the conflict, more than World War I and World War II combined. A soldier was 13 times more likely to die in the Civil War than in the Vietnam war.One reason why the Civil War was so lethal was the introduction of improved weaponry. Cone-shaped bullets replaced musket balls, and beginning in 1862, smooth-bore muskets were replaced with rifles with grooved barrels, which imparted spin on a bullet and allowed a soldier to hit a target a quarter of a mile away. The new weapons had appeared so suddenly that commanders did not immediately realize that they needed to compensate for the increased range and accuracy of rifles.The Civil War was the first war in which soldiers used repeating rifles (which could fire several shots without reloading), breechloading arms (which were loaded from behind the barrel instead of through the muzzle), and automated weapons like the Gatling gun. The Civil War also marked the first use by Americans of shrapnel, booby traps, and land mines.Outdated strategy also contributed to the high number of casualties. Massive frontal assaults and massed formations resulted in large numbers of deaths. In addition, far larger numbers of soldiers were involved in battles than in the past. In the Mexican War, no more than 15,000 soldiers opposed each other in a single battle, but some Civil War battles involved as many as 100,000 soldiers.Any hopes for a swift northern victory in the Civil War were dashed at the First Battle of Bull Run (called Manassas by the Confederates). After the surrender of Fort Sumter, two Union

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armies moved into northern Virginia. One, led by General Irvin McDowell (1818-1885), had about 35,000 men; the other, with about 18,000 men was led by General Robert Patterson (1792-1881). They were opposed by two Confederate armies, with about 31,000 troops, one led by General Joseph E. Johnston (1807-1891), another led by General Pierre G.T. Beauregard (1818-1893). Both Union and Confederate armies consisted of poorly trained volunteers.McDowell hoped to destroy Beauregard's forces while Patterson tied up Johnston's men; in fact, Johnston's troops eluded McDowall and joined Beauregard. At Bull Run in northern Virginia 25 miles southwest of Washington, the armies clashed. While residents of Washington ate picnic lunches and looked on, Union troops launched several assaults. When Beauregard counterattacked, Union forces retreated in panic, but Confederate forces failed to take up pursuit.An Indiana soldier describes life in his camp a day after the First Battle of Bull Run.

Document:...This is a dreary wet day, it has been raining all day long so hard that we cant do anything but write to our friends.... Something must be terribly wrong in the post office department, there has been but 2 letters recd in our regiment, since we left Indianapolis.... I tell you now there can be no pleasure for any man in the army, & especially while on the march. I don't know what I should do if I should take sick here in these mountains. Most of the time it has been wet & cold, especially at night, a sick man has but little chance for his life here.... The tops of the mountains have been completely enveloped in dense clouds all day--the high ranges of mountains in the distance have the appearance of a volcano in full blast, with the fog curling above the dark clouds below....We had an alarm last night at 10 o"clock. We all expected a fight, one of the Sentinels got frightened, & fired his gun, & then the alarm paged all around the camp until some guns were fired, all the men was called out, & placed in line of battle, where we stood ready to fire on any one approaching the camp, all in the most perfect silence for three long hours. When we were told the alarm was failed, & ordered to our quarters. It was amusing to see the boys...coming out half dressed, some without their guns, others their shoes and hats....

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