layout of the land and how it assists or hinders the movement of armies or naval forces. Strategists look for barriers to movement (mountains, rivers, coastlines, swamps, forests); areas that allow rapid movement (rivers, mountain passes, all weather roads, major rail lines, valleys, plains); and key areas (industries, cities, ports, road/rail junctions).
From the point of view of Union and Confederate strategists, the geography of the southeastern United States divided itself into three main areas, or theaters. A theater is a subdivision of a larger geographical area where military operations take place.
The Eastern Theater
The first of the three main theaters was the Eastern Theater, a relatively small triangle of territory in Virginia bounded by Washington, D.C., in the north, Norfolk to the east, and the Cumberland Gap in the west. Within the three points that made up this triangle was Richmond, the capital of the Confederacy. The capital cities of both nations became strategic priorities. Both had to be protected at all costs — the effect on each nation’s morale would be devastating if either city was attacked and captured.
In strategic terms, Richmond was also a critical road and rail network, and the location of one of the Tredegar ironworks — one of the most important factories in the South. At Norfolk was the Chesapeake Bay, a water invasion route that led both to Washington, by way of the Potomac, and to Richmond, by way of the James River. Norfolk and the Chesapeake Bay had to be controlled by friendly naval forces. As a major outlet to the Atlantic, the Confederacy needed Norfolk and the access to the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay to sustain commerce and protect Richmond. Just as importantly, the Union forces had to cut off Confederate commercial and military access to the Chesapeake Bay. The western leg of the triangle included the Shenandoah Valley, a critical food-producing region for the Confederacy, as well as a major invasion route into and out of Virginia. Over the next four years within the Eastern Theater, hundreds of thousands of soldiers would be killed or wounded.
The Western Theater
The Western Theater was a vast area that stretched from the Appalachian Mountains in the north, south to the Gulf coast, and west to the Mississippi River. The Mississippi was a significant east-west barrier to movement but an excellent north-south corridor for invasion. The Confederacy had to keep the river under its control to avoid being split in two, which was part of the Union’s strategy; for the Union, control of the river was a key to success. To control the river, you had to control both New Orleans and Vicksburg, the two main cities on the river. Other important rivers, such as the Tennessee and the Cumberland, served as invasion routes deep into the interior of the South that also had to be defended against invaders. The ability to build a strong naval presence on these critical rivers would support land forces. Keeping river access open to friendly forces while denying the same access to enemy forces was a critical factor to achieving victory.
The Western Theater also had most of the South’s agricultural land and its east-west railroad lines. The railroads were vital to the Confederacy’s survival. There were a number of these lifelines: One was the Corinth–Chattanooga–Knoxville–Richmond line; another was Vicksburg–Montgomery–Atlanta–Charleston line; a third was the Columbia–Wilmington–Raleigh–Petersburg–Richmond line. Each of these moved supplies and troops between theaters. Thus, if Union forces could cut off these lines, the Confederacy would be unable to defend or sustain itself for very long. Protecting these lines and the cities that had major rail junctions became a centerpiece of Confederate strategy.
The coastline of the Confederacy offered invaders opportunities to strike from the sea inland at harbors, ports, inlets, sounds, and rivers. The Confederacy’s major port cities of Galveston, New Orleans, Mobile, Savannah, Port Royal, Charleston, Wilmington, and Norfolk had to remain open. Both sides knew that the Confederacy’s survival depended on international commerce for critical supplies and funding. Union strategy would focus on maintaining a tight, effective blockade to shut down the ports; the Confederate strategy would focus on breaking the blockade or minimizing its effect to allow the ports to operate freely.
The Trans-Mississippi Theater
The third theater was the Trans-Mississippi Theater, which covered the territory west of the Mississippi all the way to New Mexico. Although not an area where there would be much fighting, Texas, Arkansas, and Missouri were nonetheless critical for the Confederate war effort. Food grown in these areas, as well as war supplies from Mexico, moved by rail from these states to the east. The Trans-Mississippi Theater shared a border with Mexico, a prime trading partner for the Confederacy. Mexico also offered blockade-free access to European suppliers. Military supplies brought in through Mexico had to travel through this theater. Some of the most famous fighting units in the Civil War came from the states of the Trans-Mississippi Theater. Confederate control of the Mississippi River would ensure that this theater would continue to sustain the Confederacy with supplies and manpower. If control of the Mississippi fell to Union forces, however, this important lifeline would be severely limited.
Civil War Strategy in Retrospect
Despite all of the different angles, advantages, disadvantages, and elaborate strategies, winning the war would depend on who could hold out the longest, although this fact was not obvious to most strategists in 1861. Many strategists believed that a couple of big, largely bloodless battles would settle the matter and bring peace. In their view, the war, such as it was, would only last a few months, six at the most. Only a very few understood what this war actually meant and what it would cost to win. Very soon, both sides would learn hard lessons about modern war and adjust their strategies to adapt to the new circumstances they found themselves in.
Chapter 6
Organizing and Training the Armies
IN THIS CHAPTER
The Civil War was a war fought by amateurs. Only a very small number of men in America had military experience. Volunteers and militia units called up for active service for a specific period of time had always fought in earlier American wars. These units were of notoriously poor quality, unless thoroughly trained and properly led.
As the new soldiers found out rather quickly, joining the army didn’t necessarily mean wearing a fancy uniform and impressing the women (although that certainly was a motivator for signing up). It often meant tedious hours of marching, standing in formation, inspections, waiting, and learning how to use all the equipment the army issued to you. It meant learning to follow orders, working and thinking as a unit, and developing the skills necessary to survive in battle. The American men who rushed to join the colors in 1861 weren’t always too thrilled to conform to the ways of the military. For them, experience would be a stern teacher.
Making Civilians into Soldiers
Between Fort Sumter in April 1861 and the battle of First Manassas in July 1861, the Union and Confederate governments worked to take tens of thousands of eager civilian volunteers with a smattering of professional officers and enlisted men and train, equip, and deploy them in organized military units that were capable of more than just looking good and consuming supplies. This is not a rapid process in the best of situations. Both armies had far too few experts in military training available to do the teaching. It took months, even over a year for everyone to learn this new trade. Even then, the quality of training in units varied widely. Often, it was the test of combat that determined whether a unit was capable of functioning properly. Those lessons learned in combat were then applied in earnest. Training improved over time, but the period