BGuthrie Photos: GA -- Atlanta -- Atlanta History Center -- Turning Point: The American Civil War

GA -- Atlanta -- Atlanta History Center -- Turning Point: The American Civil War:

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Description of Pictures: Turning Point: The American Civil War
Turning Point: The American Civil War, located in the 9,200-square-foot DuBose Gallery, is one of the nation’s largest and most complete Civil War exhibitions. With over 1,500 Union and Confederate artifacts, including cannons, uniforms, and flags, visitors experience the Civil War through the eyes of soldiers and civilians. Highlights include the Confederate flag that flew over Atlanta at the time of its surrender, a Union supply wagon used by Sherman’s army, General Patrick Cleburne’s sword, a Medal of Honor won by the United States Colored Troops, the logbooks of the C.S.S. Shenandoah, medical equipment, firearms, and more. In addition, dioramas, videos, and interactive learning stations help bring this chapter of history alive. A final section of the exhibition explores how the Civil War continues its impact on us today.

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Copyrights: All pictures were taken by amateur photographer Bruce Guthrie (me!) who retains copyright on them. Free for non-commercial use with attribution. See the [Creative Commons] definition of what this means. "Photos (c) Bruce Guthrie" is fine for attribution. (Commercial use folks including AI scrapers can of course contact me.) Feel free to use in publications and pages with attribution but you don't have permission to sell the photos themselves. A free copy of any printed publication using any photographs is requested. Descriptive text, if any, is from a mixture of sources, quite frequently from signs at the location or from official web sites; copyrights, if any, are retained by their original owners.

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Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
1. AHCTP1_140919_009.JPG: Turning Point The American Civil War
2. AHCTP1_140919_011.JPG: The American Civil War Was a Turning Point in History: In 1761, Americans in the North and South went to war over the future of liberty, freedom, and democratic government. The outcome of their struggle was by no means certain. In 1865 -- at a staggering cost in death and destruction -- Northern victory established an indivisible nation, ended slavery, and set the United States on a course that expanded the power of central government and broadened the application of democratic freedoms for all Americans.
3. AHCTP1_140919_015.JPG: DuBose Gallery The DuBose Gallery is made possible by a gift from Mrs. Beverly M. DuBose, Jr. DuBose Civil War Collection This exhibit is inspired by and based primarily on the collection of Beverly M. DuBose, Jr. "The story of the soldier, both North and South, is a large part of the story of the Civil War... The many articles that make up this collection are a memorial to those who participated in this titanic struggle." -- Beverly M. DuBose, Jr.
4. AHCTP1_140919_018.JPG: Year of Crisis: Should all Americans adopt the North's vision of industry and wage labor? "The free labor system opens the way for all -- gives hope to all, and energy, and progress, and improvement of conditions to all." -- Abraham Lincoln, Republican Presidential Candidate, 1860
5. AHCTP1_140919_026.JPG: Year of Crisis: Could people in one region dictate to all Americans what their rights would be? "There is no middle ground to be occupied. It is right and just that the black race should be held in bondage, or it is wrong and sinful." -- Nathaniel Macon, Alabama planter, 1860
6. AHCTP1_140919_028.JPG: Turning Point 1860 A Presidential Election! A crisis was brewing. The United States had become a deeply divided nation. People in the North and in the South held very different views about the future of their country. At the heart of their dispute was slavery. Attempts to reconcile their differences had failed. This election was one last chance to resolve the crisis.
7. AHCTP1_140919_031.JPG: Turning Point 1860 Lincoln Elected! Abraham Lincoln opposed the expansion of slavery in the West. His antislavery position was totally unacceptable to the South. Lincoln won with less than 40 percent of the popular vote. Would Southern states leave the Union? Could the Union -- the United States -- survive?
8. AHCTP1_140919_034.JPG: What Was At Stake in 1860? The future status of one-third of the United States was at stake. * The United States could not continue to grow and function without resolving the issue of slavery in the territories. * Many Northerners feared that if slavery were allowed in the Western territories it would spread everywhere else and ruin the chances for free men to make a living. * Many Southerners feared that if slavery were banned in the Western territories it would be banned everywhere else and ruin their chances to prosper in agriculture. * After forty years of political compromises over slavery in the territories, further compromise seemed impossible.
9. AHCTP1_140919_038.JPG: Expanding Westward: In the 1800s, the United States expanded to fill half the North American continent. * In 1800, the United States was a rural country with a population of only 5 million. * By 1860, the United States had more than tripled in size. Its territory stretched to the Pacific Ocean and its population had increased to nearly 32 million. * Most white Americans believed in "Manifest Destiny" -- the right to claim the continent and establish their own social, political, and economic systems in the Western territories. * As the United States grew, the question of allowing slavery in the Western territories became the country's most critical issue.
10. AHCTP1_140919_055.JPG: A War of Ideals "The patriots of the Revolution were fighting for liberty and so are we." -- Chaplain Nicholas Davis, CSA, Texas
11. AHCTP1_140919_059.JPG: Many Americans felt allegiance first to their state or region. In 1861, many people thought of themselves first as "Virginians," "New Yorkers," or "Southerners," and second as Americans. Some people saw their country as a group of states and referred to it in the plural: "the United States are..." Most states maintained their own armed militias. During the war, volunteer regiments were named by their states of origin, such as the 3rd Virginia or the 149th New York.
12. AHCTP1_140919_061.JPG: "The real duties of the militia of the State consisted of an annual battalion and regimental parade... This occasioned a lively turnout of the people... to witness the display of officers' uniforms, and ... listen to the rattle of the drums..." -- Capt. D. Augustus Dickert, CSA, South Carolina
13. AHCTP1_140919_064.JPG: How did the South plan to win? One smashing victory over a "Yankee" army would convince the North to let the South alone. Most Southern leaders doubted the North's will to fight a full-scale war to restore the Union. They were confident that Union armies would never be able to conquer 750,000 square miles of Confederate territory. Hundreds of Southern militia companies were already armed, organized, and eager to fight. They had the emotional advantage of defending their homeland.
14. AHCTP1_140919_074.JPG: Americans believed they had a personal duty to defend themselves and their communities. Many Americans did not trust professional armies. They believed that "citizen-soldiers" should be the primary defenders of their communities. In the 1800s, private citizens organized their own volunteer militias. Many were little more than social clubs, but others developed strong military traditions and were the first to answer the call to arms in 1861.
15. AHCTP1_140919_077.JPG: "I think it a duty which every citizen owes in our citizen-solider state of society... to connect himself if possible with one of these military companies. It is certainly a police service very necessary in its character." -- Charles C. Jones, Jr., Chatham Artillery, Georgia
16. AHCTP1_140919_081.JPG: A War of Ideals "We are only asking for self government and freedom to decide our own destinies." -- Ella Canton Thomas, Planter's wife, Georgia
17. AHCTP1_140919_085.JPG: Americans believed strongly in Northern or Southern visions for the future. Americans were willing to make sacrifices to see their visions realized, but sacrifices often brought painful choices. Many of the 16,000 men in the US Army had to decide between their sworn duties as soldiers and their regional loyalties. Some Northern and Southern officers had been classmates at West Point and had served together for many years. Now these old friends would have to fight each other.
18. AHCTP1_140919_090.JPG: "I can anticipate no greater calamity for the country than the dissolution of the Union... [But] I cannot raise my hand against my birthplace, my home, my children." -- Col. Robert E. Lee, USA, Virginia, before secession In April 1861, Robert E. Lee, a native of Virginia, was offered command of the Union forces. Although he had opposed secession, he chose to site with his native state and eventually became commander of the Confederate Army. George H. Thomas was also a native of Virginia, but he chose to side with the United States Army. He went on to become one of the finest Union generals. After the war, Thomas's family never spoke to him again.
19. AHCTP1_140919_092.JPG: How did the North plan to win? One great victory over the "Rebels" would convince Southern leaders of their mistake. Most Northern leaders doubted that the majority of Southern people really wanted to leave the Union. Northerners thought secession as the work of a few extremists. Northern leaders were confident that a full-scale invasion of the South would not be necessary. Instead, Union generals planned to blockade the Southern coast, capture the Mississippi River, and wait for Southerners to come to their senses.
20. AHCTP1_140919_099.JPG: White Americans in the North and South were highly literate and understood the issues at stake. Most Americans held strong opinions on slavery, freedom, and the future of their country. Many Union and Confederate officers were former political leaders who had debated these issues in Congress. Now they would lead soldiers in battle. Following democratic tradition, many officers were elected to their ranks by the men they were supposed to command. Unfortunately, popularity did not always make effective leaders.
21. AHCTP1_140919_103.JPG: "Every night I recite with the other 1st Segts and 2nd Lieutenants. We shall finish Hardee's Tactics and then study the 'Army Regulations.' Theory as well as practice are necessary to make the perfect soldier." -- Sgt. George B. Turner, USA, Ohio Lt. John W. Comer, 45th Alabama Volunteers, and his slave servant Burrell in 1861. Burrell accompanied Comer throughout the war and even carried him home to Alabama after he was wounded. Many other servants held as slaved used their army service as a chance to escape.
22. AHCTP1_140919_109.JPG: A War of Ideals "I [would] rather be free than be... the slave of any body." -- Stephen Jordan, Louisiana
23. AHCTP1_140919_112.JPG: A War of Ideals "My love for you is deathless... and yet my love of Country... bears me unresistably on... to the battlefield." -- Maj. Sullivan Ballou, USA, Rhode Island
24. AHCTP1_140919_116.JPG: Volunteers believed that the future of freedom and democracy was at stake. In the 1860 election, 85 percent of all white males over the age of 21 cast a ballot. In 1861, nearly a million of those men volunteered to fight. They had grown up listening to debates on sectional issues; now they were fighting to resolve those issues. White Americans were proud to live in the oldest functioning democracy in the world, but they disagreed strongly on how that government should protect their freedoms.
25. AHCTP1_140919_118.JPG: "I had rather fall in this cause than to live to see my country dismantled of its glory and independence." -- Pvt. William Paxton, CSA, Louisiana "On my country, how my heart bleeds for your welfare. If this poor life of mine could save you, how willingly Would I make the sacrifice." -- Corp. Joseph H. Griner, USA, Pennsylvania Nearly every volunteer wanted a picture taken of himself in uniform to show his patriotism to the folks back home. Photographers were unable to capture movement; the subject had to be perfectly still. This studio's sliding roof provided adjustable lighting.
26. AHCTP1_140919_124.JPG: Why did the North fight? The North wanted to maintain the Union. Many Northerners feared that that if they allowed the South to leave the Union, democratic government would fail and America would fragment into small squabbling dictatorships. Northern Unionists felt they had to preserve the government created by their forefathers after the Revolutionary War of 1776. Most Northern volunteers did not want to end slavery, but rather to end a rebellion by slave owners. These volunteers believed that secession was treason and treason should be punished.
27. AHCTP1_140919_127.JPG: Volunteers saw war as a great adventure and a chance to prove their personal courage. People believed that courage was the essential quality of a good soldier. A courageous soldier brought honor to his family and his regiment; a coward brought disgrace. Losing his nerve in battle was a volunteer's greatest fear. Most Northern and Southern volunteers thought battle would be a glorious experience of hand-to-hand combat. Many men brought their own knives, guns, and swords from home.
28. AHCTP1_140919_131.JPG: "My dear old mother... would rather hear of my death on the field of battle, although it would nearly break her heart, than to hear of my being branded as a deserter." -- Pvt. John Casler, CSA, Virginia "We are armed with Windsor rifles, with sabre bayonets; our drill... was running around the old Town Hall in West Newbury, yelling like devils, and firing at an imaginary foe." -- Sgt. John Adams, USA, Massachusetts
29. AHCTP1_140919_136.JPG: A War of Ideals "[I} felt that I should be disgraced if I remained at home while other boys no older than myself were out fighting." -- Capt. James Cooper, CSA, Tennessee
30. AHCTP1_140919_142.JPG: Volunteers believed the honor of their homes and families was at stake. Many men felt they would disgrace their families if they did not volunteer. Men from the same town or county usually volunteered together as a group. Many were related to each other or had grown up together. Most volunteers left home better prepared for a holiday than for a war. Cheering townsfolk loaded them down with cookies, cakes, farewell mementos, and comforts of home.
31. AHCTP1_140919_143.JPG: "Our dear mothers, sisters, and wives... fitted us out with a wheel-barrow load apiece of quilts, clothing, books, albums and gimmicracks of every conceivable kind... with the commendable purpose of making our life in the army a perennial picnic." -- Lt. Wilbur Hinman, USA, Ohio "I hid away from the other soldiers and took a big cry. It seemed to help, and after it, I felt better about leaving home." -- Pvt. George Gibbs, CSA, Mississippi
32. AHCTP1_140919_150.JPG: Why did the South fight? The South wanted to be independent. Many Southerners feared that their constitutional rights, especially the right to own slaves, would be taken away by a government dominated by the North. Southerners believed that the the way to protect their rights was to secede from the Union and form their own country. Many Southern volunteers thought that secession was a natural right of self-determination. These volunteers felt they were fighting a "holy cause of liberty," just like their forefathers had done in the Revolutionary War of 1776.
33. AHCTP1_140919_153.JPG: Americans believed their personal actions would decide the outcome of the war. In 1861, "war fever" swept the North and the South. Bands played, politicians made fiery speeches, and men rushed to volunteer for the armies. Americans felt a personal responsibility to fight for their ideals and help win the war. Volunteers were highly motivated, but had no military experience. Private entrepreneurs produced all sorts of gadgets designed for the comfort and benefit of soldiers. Eager volunteers bought all the wrong equipment.
34. AHCTP1_140919_157.JPG: "So impatient did I become for starting that I felt like ten thousand pins were pricking me in every part of the body, and started off a week in advance of my brothers." -- Pvt. Frank Peak, CSA, Arkansas "We hoisted our flag, headed by our three amateur musicians, playing their one and only tune, 'Sally is the gal for me." As each recruit fell into the moving line, loud cheers rent the air." -- Capt. Thomas J. Wright, USA, Kentucky
35. AHCTP1_140919_159.JPG: A War of Ideals "If liberty should be crushed here, what hope would there be for the cause of Human Progress anywhere else?" -- George H. Cadman, Ohio
36. AHCTP1_140919_163.JPG: 1861: A War of Ideals The crisis between North and South escalated into open warfare. The election of Abraham Lincoln set into motion a chain of events that split the United States. People in the North and South did not want a war, but they felt they could not compromise and still be true to their ideals.
37. AHCTP1_140919_168.JPG: December 1860 - February 1861 In reaction to Lincoln's election, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas seceded from the Union. Secessionists believed that states voluntarily formed the Union and could voluntarily leave it. Unionists thought that state surrendered their authority when they formed the Union. The United States Constitution says nothing about secession one way or the other. February 1861 The seven seceded states organized a new government and chose Jefferson Davis, the former US Secretary of War, as the new President of the Confederate States of America. The Confederate Constitution was almost the same as the US Constitution except it: * Specifically protected slavery * Confirmed the right of secession * Gave the president line-item veto power * Limited the president to a single six-year term April 12, 1861 Confederate guns opened fire on Fort Sumter, a US fortress in Charleston, South Carolina. President David could not tolerate a symbol of US authority in Confederate territory. President Lincoln could not appear weak by withdrawing the US soldiers from the fort. After a 34-hour bombardment, the fort surrendered. There was no turning back to peace. April 15, 1861 President Lincoln called for 75,000 volunteers to suppress the "insurrection." Thousands of Northern men rushed to join the Union Army. Upon hearing of Lincoln's call to arms, Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Arkansas voted to secede and join the Confederate States of America. July 21, 1861 An inexperienced Confederate army won a resounding victory over an equally inexperience Union army at Manassas, Virginia. Many Southerners expected the North to give up. But on July 22, President Lincoln called for an additional 500,000 volunteers. Both sides realized the war would not be over after just one battle.
38. AHCTP1_140919_174.JPG: Ideals Under Fire Turning Point 1862 "We soon found out that the glory of war was at home among the ladies and not upon the field of blood and carnage and death." -- Pvt. Sam Watkins, CSA, Tennessee 1862: 220,000 soldiers died in the first eighteen months of the war. Neither army got the easy victory it had expected. 1862: Union and Confederate governments initiated extreme measures: * Drafting men into the army * Jailing suspected enemy sympathizers 1862: Confederate leaders tried to convince Britain and France to enter the war and help with Southern independence. 1862: Union leaders broadened their efforts to defeat the Confederacy. Lincoln declared that the North was fighting to free Southern slaves.
39. AHCTP1_140919_182.JPG: How the Union planned to win: 1862 Union strategy: Capture Southern territory. Convince Southern leaders to return to the Union. (1) Capture Richmond, the Confederate capital. Control the Shenandoah Valley. (2) Capture New Orleans, Memphis, and Vicksburg. Control the Mississippi River. (3) Capture Nashville and Chattanooga. Control Tennessee. (4) Capture ports to be used as coaling stations for the US Navy blockading effort. (5) Tighten the blockade of Southern ports.
40. AHCTP1_140919_184.JPG: How the Confederacy planned to win: 1862 Confederate Strategy: Hold all Southern territory. Make counterattacks into Northern territory. Convince Union leaders to grant Southern independence. (1) Hold Richmond and the Shenandoah Valley. (2) Hold the Mississippi River. (3) Hold Tennessee. (4) Hold all ports. (5) Make offensives into slave-holding states to bring them into the Confederacy and pressure the North politically.
41. AHCTP1_140919_187.JPG: What Happened: 1862: In the spring, Union forces captured much Southern territory. In the summer and fall, Confederate counterattacks halted Union forces and almost won Southern independence. (1) Confederate forces held Richmond and the Shenandoah Valley. (2) Union forces captured Memphis and New Orleans and controlled 500 miles of the Mississippi River. (3) Union forces captured Nashville, but Confederate forces held Chattanooga. (4) Union forces captured five ports. (5) Confederate offenses into Kentucky and Maryland failed at Perryville and Antietam. (6) Union blockade tightened. Soldiers dead: 220,000 Soldiers present for duty: * CSA: 300,000 men * USA: 700,000 men
42. AHCTP1_140919_200.JPG: "Mr. Yank" The average foot soldier carried between 25 and 50 pounds of equipment. Men on their first march discovered that heavy knives, revolvers, quilts, and other items from home made every step a painful agony. Soldiers learned to travel light, discarding useless items and keeping only what was necessary for survival in the field. The figure in front of you represents the average Union soldier, known as "Mr. Yank" or "Yankee." This experienced soldier carries a full load of army-issue equipment, about 50 pounds. This weight would have dropped as he used up food, water, and ammunition.
43. AHCTP1_140919_203.JPG: A Soldier's Burdens: Cartridge Box and 40 rounds of ammunition: 5 lbs. Extra Ammunition in pockets (20 rounds): 2 lbs. Rifle-Musket: 9 lbs. Knapsack with wool blanket, gum blanket, shelter half, miscellaneous personal items: 16 lbs. Canteen with one quarter water: 3 lbs. Haversack with three days' marching rations: 7 lbs. Cap pouch, waist belt, bayonet and scabbard: 3 lbs. Shoes and Clothes: 5 lbs. Total: 50 lbs.
44. AHCTP1_140919_205.JPG: Disease: The Deadliest Enemy: Two-thirds of all deaths among soldiers occurred in army camps. In the 1860s, germs were unknown and no one understood how illnesses or infections spread. As large numbers of men were crowded together in small areas, camps became breeding grounds for epidemics. Early in the war, measles, mumps, and smallpox spread rapidly among men from rural areas who lacked immunities that men from towns and cities had developed in childhood. Unaware of sanitation practices, soldiers often dug latrines too close to their camps, contaminating water supplies. Resulting waves of dysentery and typhoid killed more men than any other cause. Regiments were reduced to half their original number in a few short months. "Our army seemed on one point of annihilation from disease," wrote one disenchanted soldier. Personal courage, no matter how great, was no defense against disease. Soldiers on the march often had to go for weeks without bathing. Most men became infested with lice. In camp, soldiers washed their cloths with boiling water to kill the lice.
45. AHCTP1_140919_208.JPG: "The chronic diarrhea became the scourge of the army. Corinth [Mississippi] became one vast hospital. Almost the whole army attended sick call every morning. All the water courses went dry, and we used water out of filthy pools." -- Pvt. Sam Watkins, CSA, Tennessee
46. AHCTP1_140919_210.JPG: "This plain became a wallow-hole; the clay surface freezing at night and thawing by day, trampled by thousands of men, made a vast sea of mud... It had to be scraped and washed off to prevent our tents from becoming hog pens." -- Cpl. John L. Parker, USA, Massachusetts
47. AHCTP1_140919_213.JPG: "Johnny Reb" The only equipment carried by a seasoned foot soldier was for personal survival or combat. Men on both sides quickly learned that any piece of gear without proven use was not worth carrying. A canteen and haversack were the most essential items for survival. Cartridge boxes, bayonets, and other accoutrements were required for combat, and the armies punished men for discarding them. The figure in front of you represents the average Confederate foot soldier, often called "Johnny" or "Johnny Reb." Except for the tin can, everything he carried was army-issue. Throughout the war, "Johnny Reb" was usually as well supplied with gear as his counterpart "Mr. Yank," although "Johnny " suffered more often from a lack of food and shoes.
48. AHCTP1_140919_216.JPG: Tools of the Trade: Cap pouch (on belt): Stored percussion caps for igniting the rifle-musket Cartridge Box: Held 40 rounds of ammunition for the rifle-musket Rifle-musket: British pattern 1853 "Enfield" Knapsack: Contained extra clothing, a blanket, or personal items Waist Belt: Secured the bayonet, cap pouch, and cartridge box to the body Canteen: Carried water Haversack: Carried food rations Tin Can: For boiling water and cooking food Bayonet: A fighting tool more often used as a cooking implement
49. AHCTP1_140919_219.JPG: Who Fought the War? Most soldiers volunteered to join the armies. They represented a cross-section of the American male population. The average soldier was 25 years old: about five feet, eight inches tall; and came from a rural background. In the South, soldiers were usually native born. In the North, a quarter were foreign born, including large numbers of Germans, Irish, and Canadians. Some 187,000 African Americans volunteered for the Union after they were allowed to enlist in 1862. As many as 50,000 may have served in he Confederate Army, occasionally as soldiers, but usually as cooks or forced laborers. About 15,000 Native Americans also fought in the war. Although women were excluded from service, an estimated 300 disguised themselves as men and fought in the ranks.
50. AHCTP1_140919_230.JPG: The Tools of Survival: Northern and Southern volunteers quickly realized that war was not the gallant adventure they had imagined. Instead of fighting the enemy, they spent most of their time in camp or on the march, battling weather, hunger, boredom, and disease. In the battle for survival, the simple tools mattered most: a jackknife, a good tin cup, matches, and candles. Luxuries once thought essential were either thrown away or sent home. Food became the soldier's first concern. Soldiers relied on army rations, such as cornmeal and salt-cured pork. Whenever possible, they stole or "foraged" food from nearby farms. But large armies encamped for several months soon exhausted local supplies. An Illinois private lamented, "I never knew what it was to be hungry [until] I came into the service."
51. AHCTP1_140919_235.JPG: A Soldier's Job: Infantry: Foot soldiers were the backbone of the armies. More than 75 percent of Union and Confederate soldiers, about 2,250,000 men, were in the infantry. Their job was to make attacks, defend ground, and take the brunt of the worst fighting. The concentrated fire of a line of well-drilled and disciplined infantrymen could repel almost any attacking force. The infantry had no horses or wagons to ride. They marched about 15 miles per day through heat, dust, cold, and rain. After several weeks, soldiers were distinguished by their filthy clothing and suntanned faces and hands. Except for resupplies of food and ammunition, all the infantrymen's gear had to be carried on their backs. One Ohio veteran calculated that his regiment marched 3,315 miles during its four-year service.
52. AHCTP1_140919_245.JPG: A Soldier's Job: Cavalry: About 15 to 20 percent of Union and Confederate soldiers, or 500,000 men, were in the cavalry. Their main job was to spy on the enemy while protecting their own army from enemy view. Sometimes cavalry forces raided enemy territory, destroying railroads and burning supplies. The cavalry's real advantage was speed. Good horse soldiers could ride as much as fifty mules a day, strike where the enemy was weak, and escape quickly. Early in the war, the cavalry attracted volunteers who dreamed of glorious saber charges. They soon learned that horseback charges were virtual suicide against new, highly accurate rifled firearms. After 1863, cavalry seldom fought against infantry or artillery in major battles. If they had to fight, troopers dismounted and fought on foot using shrot-range revolvers and carbines.
53. AHCTP1_140919_253.JPG: Ideals Under Fire: When war broke out in 1861, the Union and the Confederacy had fewer than 50,000 men under arms, including militias. By the end of 1862, over 1,000,000 Northern and Southern volunteers were armed, equipped, and organized. They were engaged in the largest and bloodiest battles ever fought on American soil. Union and Confederate generals organized thousands of eager volunteers into disciplined armies. Soldiers in the Armies: Between 1861 and 1865, approximately 3,000,000 Americans served in the Civil War armies -- 2,100,000 for the Union and 900,000 for the Confederacy. Company: Composed of 2 platoons. Commanded by a captain. 50-100 men. Regiment: Composed of 10 companies. Commanded by a colonel. 400-1,000 men. Brigade: Composed of 4-6 regiments. Commanded by a brigadier general. 2,500-5,000 men. Division: Composed of 3-4 brigades. Commanded by a brigadier general or major general. 4,000-12,000 men. Corps: Composed of 3-4 divisions. Commanded by a major general or lieutenant general. 25,000-40,000 men. Army: Composed of 2-3 corps. Commanded by a major general or lieutenant general. 40,000-120,000 men.
54. AHCTP1_140919_258.JPG: A Soldier's Job: Artillery: About 5 to 10 percent of soldiers, or 225,000 men, were in the field artillery. Their job was to break up enemy fortifications or destroy enemy infantry and artillery. Field guns were small mobile weapons with ranges of one to two miles. Loading, aiming, and firing these guns was a matter of great skill and coordination for each ten-man crew. When properly used, artillery fire could turn the tide of battle. The guns had to be moved quickly to wherever they were needed. It took more than 100 horses to transport a battery of four guns plus the limbers and caissons, which carried ammunition, tools, and personal gear. In battle, artillerymen had to move the horses out of harm's way or else the battery would lose its only mode of transportation. In camp, artillerymen spent most of their time feeding and caring for the horses.
55. AHCTP1_140919_265.JPG: A Soldier's Vices: Drinking, gambling, and profanity were common in army camps. Families urged their young men to remember hometown morals and to avoid "sinful" activities. But the temptations of army life were irresistible. Cards, dice, and liquor provided diversions from boredom and homesickness. Many soldiers away from home for the first time wanted acceptance from hard-drinking comrades. Although drinking and gambling were illegal in both armies, the regulations were not always enforced. Camps were, as one Mississippian wrote, "one unceasing tide of blasphemy and wickedness, coarseness, and obscenity."
56. AHCTP1_140919_275.JPG: Idle Hours: "War is an organized bore," declared Lt. Oliver W. Holmes, describing the monotony of camp life. Between December and April, the armies encamped for the winter and soldiers lived in huts they built with logs and scrap wood. In their leisure time, the men read books, wrote letters home, repaired clothes, and fashioned toys and trinkets out of any materials at hand, including lead bullets. Sometimes, entire regiments staged snowball battles with each other. "The men made a regular Pandean frolic of it," remarked a Georgia colonel. "The higher an officer the more snow balling he received." In warmer weather they also enjoyed the popular new sport of baseball.
57. AHCTP1_140919_279.JPG: "There is some of the onerest men here that I ever saw, and the most swearing and card playing and fi[gh]tin and drunkenness that I ever saw at any place." -- Pvt. Adam S. Rader, CSA, Virginia Soldier Slang Fresh fish -- Raw recruits. Beat -- Someone unwilling to do his share of the work. Jonah -- An awkward or clumsy soldier. Yellow dogs -- Cowards, especially officers Gray backs -- Lice Pop-skull -- Whiskey Bully! -- Great! Played out -- Very tired Skedaddle -- To run away or retreat Seeing the elephant -- Seeing battle for the first time Grab a root -- To eat Most of the curse words we know today were also in common use in the 1860s.
58. AHCTP1_140919_282.JPG: A Sailor's Job: The Navies: About 130,000 men served in the Union Navy. Their job was to blockade Southern seaports and gain control of rivers so that Northern ships could carry invading armies deep into Confederate territory. The Union's superior naval strength enabled its armies to attack may parts of the Confederacy simultaneously. The chief role of the Confederate Navy, never more than 7,500 men strong, was to defend Southern ports and rivers as best it could. Soldiers and marines in Union and Confederate navies worked aboard ocean-going warships, river gunboats, and the new ironclad steamers. Much of the sailors' time was spent in daily maintenance of their ships in routine chores. Like soldiers on land, sailors lived a life of boredom punctuated by brief periods of excitement or terror.
59. AHCTP1_140919_289.JPG: A Soldier's Virtues: Religious faith provided a refuge from camp vices and the horrors of battle. Many soldiers went off to war strongly devoted to God, carrying Bibles from home as a sign of their faith. As the war dragged on, belief in the afterlife and salvation eased the suffering from wounds, disease, and the fear of death. While some soldiers thought suffering was a part of God's plan for victory, hardships challenged the faith of many others. One Southerner admitted, "It is hard to retain religion on an empty stomach." In the final years of the war, revivals swept Confederate camps, helping disillusioned soldiers regain their religious enthusiasm.
60. AHCTP1_140919_296.JPG: "It was dreadful for a few hours. Many a poor fellow fell, and we gained nothing but a little ground... Such are the horrors of war. Will God forgive men for such work is a question I often ask myself, but I receive a silent reply and utter my own prayers for the safety of my poor soul and my country." -- Sgt. Hamlin A. Coe, USA, Michigan
61. AHCTP1_140919_299.JPG: "Gen. Jackson (God Bless him) has given us the privilege to be exempt from Morning's Drill in order that we may attend preaching... we have two sermons each day & although we have no church to worship in we all sit around on the ground and listen to the sweet sound of the Gospel." -- Pvt. R.B. Hudgens, CSA, North Carolina
62. AHCTP1_140919_305.JPG: Mail Call: Letters served as a lifeline of people and places the solider had left behind. More than 85 percent of all soldiers were literate. Although their spelling and grammar skills were often limited, they generated a huge volume of mail during the war. Letters were not censored and soldiers felt free to reveal honest thoughts and feelings about their army experiences. Mail from home consoled homesick soldiers as no other remedy, "Martha... I am one of the Glades[t] fellows that you Ever seen when I git a letter from you," wrote an Alabamian. "You don't no how much good it dus me to here from you."
63. AHCTP1_140919_311.JPG: A Time of Dying: Battle was hardly the romantic test of personal courage that soldiers had imagined. The accurate and deadly minie ball made tactics taught in military schools obsolete. "Heroic" frontal charges became virtual suicide. Colorbearers, officers, or anyone showing exceptional bravery were often the first ones hit. For the survivors who watched their friends suffer and die, the effect was numbing. This "hardening," as the soldiers called it, helped them to absorb the shock of horrible experiences without outward emotion. Feelings of pity and remorse faded as they became desensitized to death. "Elias Burns sang out, 'The rebel bullet is not yet made that is to kill me.' At that, he jumped up and fell down the same instant with a bullet in his brain. He fell across my lap... and his brains and blood ran into my haversack, spoiling my rations. So I took his." -- Pvt. Robert Strong, USA, Illinois
64. AHCTP1_140919_332.JPG: A War of Resources, a Test of Will: Turning Point: 1863 1863: The Union won decisive victories at Vicksburg, Gettysburg, and Chattanooga. The Confederacy was not defeated and did not give up. 1863: In both the North and South, opposition to the war grew stronger. No one had expected the war to last so long or to be so terrible. 1863: Both the Union and the Confederacy committed still more men and resources to win the war. 1863: The war became an agonizing test of will for civilians as well as soldiers.
65. AHCTP1_140919_333.JPG: How the Union Planned to Win: 1863 Union Strategy: Capture vital Southern territory. Destroy Confederate armies. Crush the Southern will to fight. (1) Capture Richmond and destroy Gen. Robert E. Lee's army. (2) Capture Vicksburg and destroy Gen. John C. Pemberton's army. Control the Mississippi River. (3) Capture Chattanooga and destroy Gen. Braxton Bragg's army. Control Tennessee. (4) Capture Charleston and close this port to Confederate blockade runners. (5) Tighten the blockade of Southern ports.
66. AHCTP1_140919_337.JPG: How the Confederacy Planned to Win: 1863 Confederate Strategy: Hold all vital Southern territory. Make counterattacks into Union territory. Convince Union leaders to grant Southern independence. (1) Hold Richmond. (2) Hold Vicksburg and control the Mississippi River. (3) Hold Chattanooga and control Tennessee. (4) Hold remaining ports and recapture lost ones if possible. (5) Strike into Pennsylvania to threaten Washington DC, the Union capital and demoralize the North.
67. AHCTP1_140919_341.JPG: What Happened: 1863 The Union won stunning victories but a Confederate counterattack almost won Southern independence. (1) Confederate forces held Richmond. (2) The Union captured Vicksburg and Pemberton's entire army, winning control of the Mississippi River. (3) Union forces captured Chattanooga, winning control of Tennessee. (4) Confederate forces held Charleston and recaptured Galveston. (5) The Confederate offensive into Pennsylvania failed at Gettysburg. (6) Union blockade tightened. Soldiers dead: 360,000 Soldiers present for duty: CSA: 280,000 men USA: 650,000 men
68. AHCTP1_140919_349.JPG: The Confederacy Tried to Break the Blockade: The Confederacy tried to use the the demand for cotton, its greatest economic resource, to convince Britain and France to break the Union blockade. Britain and France depended on Southern cotton to supply their expanding textile industries. Southern planters withheld cotton exports in 1861 and 1862, claiming the Union blockade prevented shipment. They hoped to persuade Britain and France to send their powerful navies to break the blockade and restore cotton shipments. Although the cotton shortage hurt their economies, Britain and France were reluctant to fight the North unless the South was clearly winning. Many working-class people in Britain were strong supporters of the Union cause, especially after Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation in late 1862. Instead of coming to the Confederacy's aid, Britain and France turned to other sources of cotton in India and Egypt.
69. AHCTP1_140919_356.JPG: The Union Blockaded Southern Ports: In 186t1, the Union imposed a naval blockade on Southern ports to try to starve the Confederacy into submission. The Union's objectives were to prevent the Confederacy from importing European military supplies and from exporting cotton that was used to pay for those goods. US Navy warships lined the Confederacy's coast, ready to intercept any ship attempting to enter or exit a Southern port. The Confederacy purchased small and fast steamships called blockade runners to slip past Union warships and deliver vital supplies. On average, six or every seven Southern blockade runners got through the Union lines. The Confederacy managed to maintain trade with Europe until the final months of the war. However, as Union troops seized Southern ports and the the North built more warships, the blockade became more effective. By 1864, the US Navy had captured 1,200 blockade runners and the number of attempts to run the blockade declined sharply. The flow of European supplies to the South dropped off to a trickle.
70. AHCTP1_140919_375.JPG: A War of Resources: To win the war, the Union and the Confederacy needed immense quantities of arms, munitions, and other war material. The Union had all the necessary resources for waging a prolonged war. In 1860, Northern states contained 90 percent of all US manufacturing, 70 percent of the railroads, and 80 percent of the military-age population. By 1863, Northern iron and steel furnaces, firearms manufacturers, textile mills, and other industries were outproducing the Confederacy at an overwhelming rate. By 1865, the Union had the largest navy and the best equipped army in the world. The Confederacy had few essential resources needed for waging a prolonged war. War production in the Southern states suffered from a chaotic lack of materials, skilled labor, and reliable transportation. Nevertheless, the Confederate Government was remarkably successful in supplying its armies. By 1863, the South was producing much of the war materiel it needed and was importing the rest from Europe. Confederate armies did not lose battles becasue of a lack of arms or equipment.
71. AHCTP1_140919_379.JPG: War Production: New Inventions: "There is no doubt that the Spencer carbine is the best firearm yet put into the hands of the soldier... for maximum effect, both physical and moral." -- Maj. Gen. James H. Wilson to the US Ordnance Bureau, 1865 The Union had the resources to explore military technologies and develop new inventions. During the war, Northern inventors patented an endless variety of experimental devices. Some of the most significant developments were armored warships with revolving turrets and innovative new rifles that could fire repeatedly without reloading. New weaponry often encountered bureaucratic opposition and production difficulties. Technological marvels proved less important to the Union war effort that its ability to mass-produce conventional weapons and equipment.
72. AHCTP1_140919_384.JPG: War Production: New Inventions: "My attention was called to... the saddles and carbines manufactured in Richmond... the former ruined the horses' backs and the latter were so defective as to be demoralizing to the men." -- Gen. Robert E. Lee to the Confederate Ordnance Bureau, 1863 The Confederacy struggled to meet basic needs and improvised low-technology solutions. The Confederacy concentrated its limited resources on making the basic tools of war. By 1863, Southern armories had abandoned efforts to build serviceable breechloading rifles, and instead turned all their efforts to making simple muzzleloading rifles. The Confederate Navy developed simple but ingenious solutions for harbor defense, including floating mines (called torpedoes), ironclad warships, and the first operational submarine. Despite these successes, Confederate ingenuity and improvisation could not offset Northern technology, manpower, and industrial capacity.
73. AHCTP1_140919_386.JPG: The Lifeline of the Confederacy The South equipped its armies with weapons and supplies purchased in Europe and imported through the Union blockade. The Confederacy's main supplier was Great Britain. Although Britain had declared it would remain neutral during the war, British companies freely sold weapons, accoutrements, ammunition, and raw materials to both the North and the South. Despite a chronic shortage of funds, Confederate agents in Britain purchased more than 400,000 Enfield type rifle-muskets, as well as swords, revolvers, and artillery pieces. Other Southern agents bought arms in Austria, France, Belgium, and Prussia. Confederate armies depended on these imported weapons throughout the war.
74. AHCTP1_140919_391.JPG: Silent Ships of the Night: Blockade-running ships tried to sneak vital military supplies part Union warships under cover of darkness. Confederate agents in Europe shipped their military cargoes in ordinary merchant ships to ports in the Bahamas, Bermuda, or Cuba. Blockade runners picked up cargoes at these bases of operation and ran them into Southern ports. Many blockade-running ships had been altered to make them quiet and less visible at night. By 1862, blockade running had become so profitable for ship owners that British shipyards began building steamers designed specifically for running.
75. AHCTP1_140919_394.JPG: Confederate Raiders on the High Seas: The Confederacy armed ships to attack the Northern merchant fleet and disrupt the Union war effort. About twenty Confederate commerce raiders, many of them built in British shipyards, destroyed more than 250 Northern merchant ships and forced many others to stay in port. The US merchant fleet never fully recovered. Although the Union Navy had to divert ships from blockade duty to hunt down the raiders, the Confederate guerilla war on the high seas had little effect on the outcome of the war.
76. AHCTP1_140919_399.JPG: War Production: Accoutrements: The Union used standardized patterns and industrial technology. The US Army issued standard patterns to its accoutrement makes so that all their products were made alike. A rigid system or many inspection assured consistent quality. Northern manufacturers also used industrial technology such as the sewing machine for mass-producing uniforms and the machine press for stamping out hundreds of identical parts for canteens and other fear.
77. AHCTP1_140919_403.JPG: War Production: Accoutrements: The Confederacy had to use non-standard patterns and craft technology. The CS Army did not have time or manpower to standardize accoutrements or to inspect them carefully. Southern accoutrement makers often had to follow their own patterns, take shortcuts in production, and use improvised materials. Some makers still relied on traditional craft technology and handwork. Although most of their products were functional and served their purpose, the quality varied considerably.
78. AHCTP1_140919_415.JPG: War Production: Weapons: The Confederacy had a limited capacity and borrowed technology. In 1861, the Confederacy had no major firearms manufacturers. Even with the Northern-made machinery seized at the US Armory in Harper's Ferry, Virginia, the Confederacy was able to produce only about 15 percent of the arms it needed. Shortages of raw materials and skilled laborers limited production. Over 85 percent of all arms used by the Confederacy were imported from Europe or captured on the battlefield. Although the Confederacy became self-sufficient in many areas of war production, it could not match the quantity or quality of Northern firearms.
79. AHCTP1_140919_417.JPG: War Production: Weapons: The Union had an overwhelming capacity and advanced technology. In 1861, the North was the leading firearms producer in the world. Northern states contained thirty major firearms manufacturers, including Colt, Remington, Sharps, Whitney, and other leaders in firearms technology. These firms and the US Government had pioneered the use of sophisticated machinery that could mass-produce interchangeable parts for firearms. Although the Union Army had to import some weapons early in the war to overcome immediate shortages, by 1863 Northern manufacturers were turning out huge quantities of high-quality weapons. The US Army at Springfield, Massachusetts, produced 550 infantry rifle-muskets per day, more than some Southern manufacturers made in a month.
80. AHCTP1_140919_422.JPG: War Production: Weapons: "Run the armory night and day with double sets of hands -- I had rather have an accumulation of our arms than to have money lying idle." -- Samuel Colt, US firearms manufacturer, 1861 Firearms Production, 1861-1865: 798,000 USA -- Model 1861 infantry rifle-muskets made at the US Armory, Springfield, Massachusetts. 130,000 CSA -- Firearms of all types made in the Confederacy.
81. AHCTP1_140919_440.JPG: War Production: A Confederate Success Story: The South began the war with almost no manufacturing resources. By 1863, the Confederacy had become self-sufficient in its production of ammunition, uniforms, and accoutrements. The Union blockade convinced Confederate leaders that they needed to become as self-sufficient as possible in war production. To meet this goal, the Confederate Government had to exert strong control over the states so that vital raw materials could be moved throughout the South to manufacturing centers. Centralization of the war effort angered supporters of "state rights," but it enabled the Confederacy to survive. Richmond, Virginia, was the South's largest and most important manufacturing center. Confederate authorities located other war industries in the Deep South, farther from possible Union capture. A network of factories in Selma, Alabama, and Augusta, Columbus, Macon, and Atlanta, Georgia, became second in importance only to Richmond. Railroads converging in Atlanta carried war materiel to the rest of the Confederacy.
82. AHCTP1_140919_444.JPG: War Production: A Confederate Success Story: "I have succeeded beyond my utmost expectations... Where three years ago we were not making a gun, a pistol nor a sabre, no shot nor shell... we now make all these in quantities to meet the demands of our large armies." -- Gen. Josiah Gorgas, Confederate Ordnance Bureau, 1864 Before 1861, the Tredegar Iron Works in Richmond was the South's only major facility capable of casting cannon or making railroad track. During the war, Tredegar cast 1,100 cannon tubes, about half of all cannons made in the Confederacy.
83. AHCTP1_140919_457.JPG: Bullet mold used at the CS Arsenal at Atlanta: This mold was made and used at the Atlanta arsenal to cast lead minie balls for imported .72 caliber Belgian rifled muskets. It is marked "Atlanta Arsenal/Belgian Rifle." To case the minie balls, a worker pushed the handles together and poured hot molten lead into the 14 mold cavities. As the lead cooled, a foot-operated cutter broke off the excess lead, or sprue, at the top of each cavity. Then the worker opened the handles and the minie balls fell into the drawer below. During the war, most minie balls were not molded. Instead, a machine formed lead into long cylinders of the correct caliber and then cut out bullets individually. Making minie balls would not have taken place in the same room as forming the cartridges, as seen in this vignette. Each step in making ammunition war performed in separate rooms to reduce the risk of an explosion.
84. AHCTP1_140919_460.JPG: A Munitions Factory Assembly Room: Factory workers in the North and South made more than a billion rounds of firearms ammunition during the war -- all of it by hand. Union and Confederate factories, called small-arms laboratories, made paper cartridge ammunition for rifle-muskets. Women or boys usually made the cartridges in assembly-line fashion while men filled them with gunpowder and packed them for shipment. All workers were expected to observe strict rules about handling cartridges; sparks could cause deadly explosions. A woman in the cartridge assembly room worked ten hours a day, six days a week, and was paid by the number of cartridges she made (at least 800 per day). Her average pay of fifteen dollars a month was slightly more than the pay of a private soldier in the army.
85. AHCTP1_140919_463.JPG: A Munitions Factory Assembly Room: (1) A woman rolled a piece of pre-cut paper into a tube. (2) She tied the bottom of the tube and placed a minie ball (lead bullet) on the tip. (3) She rolled another piece of paper around the tube and bullet. (4) She tied the bottom of the cartridge. Sometimes, workers applied paste to hold the cartridge together. (5) A man filled each open tube with a measured amount of black powder. (6) He closed the open end of the cartridge by folding it over onto itself so that no powder could spill out. When a soldier was ready to fire his rifle-musket, he tore off this folded tab and poured the powder into the barrel.
86. AHCTP1_140919_479.JPG: Paper cartridge ammunition: These are original Union and Confederate cartridges made in small arms laboratories. Each cartridge, weighing a little over one ounce, contains a lead bullet (usually a minie ball), and a charge of black powder. At the upper left are three cartridges for the round balls used in smoothbore muskets. One also contains three small buckshot; such buck-and-ball rounds inflicted terrible wounds at close range. At top is a Confederate Gardner round, distinguishable by the minie ball attached the paper.
87. AHCTP1_140919_484.JPG: War Production: Women in the Work Force: As men went to war, women went to work in Northern and Southern war industries. In the 1860s, most Americans believed that a woman's place was in the home. Knitting socks or making clothing were thought to be proper ways to support the war effort. White women from affluent families could afford to work in the home, but economic hardship forced many other women to work outside the home in textile mills, munitions factories, and government clothing depots. During the war, women made up almost a third of the labor force in Northern and Southern factories. They usually did repetitive hand work such as tending looms, making ammunition, or sewing uniforms. Women rarely replaced men in highly skilled tasks such as gunsmithing. Thousands of women also volunteered as nurses, cooks, or laundresses in military hospitals. Many more ran farms or small businesses while their men were away.
88. AHCTP1_140919_486.JPG: War Production: Women in the Work Force: "We have some plucky boys in the hospital, but they suffer awfully. One had his leg cut off yesterday, and some of the ladies, newcomers, were up to see him... if they had seen as many as I had they would not go far to see the sight again. I could stand by and see a man's head taken off I believe -- you get so used to it here." -- Comelia Hancock, Volunteer nurse Before the war, most nurses were men: during the war many people began to think of nursing as a woman's job.
89. AHCTP1_140919_494.JPG: A Test Of Will Winning the war took more than military resources; it required the resolve of thousands of ordinary Americans on the homefront. The Union and the Confederacy had to maintain the popular will to sustain the war, accept its terrible sacrifices, and achieve victory. By the end of 1863, that will was being sorely tested. Long casualty lists, separation from loved ones, and a war that seemed endless took their toll on homefront morale. Political opposition to the war grew stronger and many leaders called for peace negotiations. Everyone prayed for the war to be over. Despite the protests, most people in the North and South remained grimly committed to their causes. People still believed strongly in the ideals that had sent them to war in 1861. Idealism remained strongest among the front-line soldiers. As one soldier wrote, "I am determined to see this fight out if it costs me my life." It was this will to win, not just military resources, that would determine the outcome of the war.
90. AHCTP1_140919_506.JPG: "The Burial of Latane" An idealized image of heroic sacrifice and a popular symbol of the Confederate cause, "The Burial of Latane" is based on an 1862 incident in which Capt. William D. Latane was killed while leading a cavalry charge behind Union lines. Latane's body was recovered by his brother who had no time to bury it. Instead, he took his brother's body to a nearby farm where it was given a "proper" burial by sympathetic Southern women with their slaves. The story of Latane was first published in Richmond, Va., newspapers and later became a popular poem. For white Southerners the story symbolized the fate of thousands of young men who were dying far from home and family. This postwar print was made from an 1864 oil painting by William Washington.
91. AHCTP1_140919_518.JPG: A Time of Anguish: It took only one bullet to bring grief and hardship to an entire family. During the war, 250,000 soldiers' wives became widows. In the midst of their grief, widows were often left without any means of financial support. Some had to depend on friends, family, or charity. Others had to go to work or take in borders in order to stay in their homes and raise their children. In 1862, the US Government began granting small pensions to Union soldiers' widows; Southern women had no such support. Social codes of the 1860s dictated that windows undergo an elaborate ritual of mourning for at least two and a half years after their husbands' death. During this period, women were expected to wear black clothing with veils, jewelry, or other accessories in black. After that time they could wear grey, lavender, or other somber colors. Some widows chose to wear black for the rest of their lives.
92. AHCTP1_140919_529.JPG: Year of Decision Turning Point: 1864 "Our bleeding, bankrupt, almost dying country longs for peace -- shudders at the prospect of... further wholesale devastations, and of new rivers of human blood." -- Horace Greeley, editor, New York Tribune 1864: In the North, political opposition to President Abraham Lincoln threatened to stop the Union war effort. Most people believed Lincoln would not be re-elected in November. 1864: Confederate armies needed to hold out until Lincoln lost the election. A new US president might call for a negotiated peace. 1864: Lincoln needed major military victories to regain popular support for the war effort and win re-election. 1864: Both North and South expected to win this year. Soldiers prepared for an all-out fight to the death.
93. AHCTP1_140919_532.JPG: How the Union planned to win: 1864 Union Strategy: Capture vital Southern territory using coordinated attacks. Destroy or wear down Confederate armies. Crush the Southern will to fight. (1) Capture Richmond and destroy Gen. Robert E. Lee's army. (2) Capture Atlanta and destroy Gen. Joseph E. Johnston's army. (3) Capture Mobile and Wilmington and close these ports to Confederate blockade runners. (4) Destroy Confederate manufacturing centers and railroad lines. (5) Complete the blockade of Southern ports.
94. AHCTP1_140919_536.JPG: How the Confederacy Planned to Win: 1864 Confederate Strategy: Hold vital Southern territory. Win defensive victories. Hold out until a new US president is elected in November and calls for peace negotiations. (1) Hold Richmond and destroy Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's army. (2) Hold Atlanta and destroy Gen. William T. Sherman's army. (3) Hold Mobile, Wilmington, and other ports. (4) Hold vital manufacturing centers and railroad lines.
95. AHCTP1_140919_540.JPG: What Happened: August 1864: The Union's all-out effort to defeat the Confederacy was failing. Union attacks stalled on all fronts. (1) Despite heavy casualties, Confederate forces held Richmond and destroyed half of Grant's army. (2) Confederate forces held Atlanta. (3) Union forces captured Mobile Bay, but the Confederacy still held Wilmington and Charleston. (4) Confederate forces still held their vital manufacturing centers and railroad lines. (5) The Union blockade tightened. Soldiers dead: 520,000 Soldiers present for duty: CSA: 200,000 men USA: 650,000 men
96. AHCTP1_140919_555.JPG: 1864: Year of Decision: The Union launched simultaneous attacks on Richmond and Atlanta, hoping to defeat the Confederacy before the Northern presidential election in November. Lt. General Ulysses S. Grant was the best general in the Union Army. His determined and aggressive strategy had won overwhelming victories at Vicksburg and Chattanooga in 1863. The following March, President Lincoln appointed Grant to command all Union armies, including the 120,000 men of the Army of the Potomac advancing on Richmond. Maj. General William T. Sherman was Grant's closest friend as well as his best corps commander. Sherman was entrusted with the combined forces of three armies: the Army of the Tennessee, the Army of the Cumberland, and the Army of the Ohio, some 113,000 men all advancing on Atlanta. Richmond: Manufacturing center and capital of the Confederacy Atlanta: Manufacturing center and railroad hub of the Deep South Lt. General Robert E. Lee. Since 1862, the daring tactics of Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia had defeated five Union advances on Richmond. Lee had never lost a battle on Virginia soil. Now, in 1864, he had 65,000 men to try to hold Richmond against yet another attack. "... move against Johnston's army.... get into the interior of the enemy's country as far as you can, inflicting all the damage you can against their resources." -- General Grant's orders to General Sherman, April, 1864 "If we break up the enemy... and throw him back, he will not be able to recover... until the Presidential election is over, and then we shall have a new president to treat with." -- Gen. James Longstreet, CSA, 1864 Lt. General Joseph E. Johnston. Loved by his men but distrusted by President Davis, General Johnston was ordered to defend Atlanta with the 70,000 men of the Army of Tennessee and Army of Mississippi. In the middle of the campaign, fearing that he would not fight for Atlanta, Davis relieved Johnston of command. Lt. General John B. Hood was one of the bravest and most aggressive generals in the Confederacy, and also one of President Davis's favorites. But Hood's own men knew him better; their nickname for him was "old woodenhead." Hood took over command of the armies defending Atlanta on July 17 and nearly destroyed them in reckless counterattacks.
97. AHCTP1_140919_573.JPG: Entrenchments: By 1864, the armies dug elaborate defenses that were almost impossible to overwhelm by direct assault. As soon as they halted within range of the enemy, soldiers began to fortify their position. They piled up logs to make temporary defenses and then dug protective earthen walls and trenches. Their position became a hellish maze of trenches and obstacles as they cleared fields of fire for shooting down attacking soldiers. The summer heat, heavy rainfalls, and continual marching, fighting, and entrenching made conditions for the soldiers near Atlanta almost unbearable. By August 1864, some regiments were reduced to less than half their original numbers as disease, wounds, and exhaustion took their toll. The struggle for Atlanta ranks as one fo the most miserable campaigns of the Civil War.
98. AHCTP1_140919_577.JPG: The scene in front of you recreates a parapet and trench, the main feature of Civil War defenses. Gabion -- baskets filled with dirt used to support large parapets of permanent siege works. Abatis -- felled trees to trip up attacking soldiers. Picket post -- a small entrenchment for guards, or pickets, to warn of an approaching attack. Palisades -- sharpened stakes driven into the ground to stop a line of attacking soldiers. Headlog -- protected a soldier's head when firing. Skidpole -- prevented the headlog from falling into the trench if the headlog was hit by artillery fire. Fascine -- bundles of sticks used to reinforce parapets. Parapet -- a wall made of logs covered and packed with dirt, usually five feet thick. Firing step -- where a soldier stood when firing at the enemy. Trench -- a ditch behind the parapet, usually three feet deep. Dirt dug from the trench was used to form the parapet.
99. AHCTP1_140919_584.JPG: Supplying the Armies: Flatcars loaded with Ohio recruits at Harper's Ferry, West Virginia. Many soldiers were transported by train or boat to the front lines, but from then on they marched on foot.
100. AHCTP1_140919_586.JPG: An army of 100,000 men consumed 600 tons of supplies every day. Supplying an army with everything it needed to fight was an extremely complicated task. Food, ammunition, clothing, and forage for animals had to be carried for hundreds of miles by boats, railroads, or wagons. Armies had to protect their supply lines from enemy raids or risk being cut off and starved to death. In 1862 and 1863, Union armies in Tennessee and Mississippi used rivers to transport troops and supplies. In 1864, Union armies advancing on Atlanta depended on a single railroad line: the Western and Atlantic Railroad running south from Chattanooga to Atlanta. Confederates used the same railroad to move supplies north from Atlanta to the front lines. Capturing, guarding, and operating this railroad was crucial to both armies.
101. AHCTP1_140919_589.JPG: "Each wagon was required to carry five days forage for its animals (600 pounds), and if its other freight was rations it might be six barrels of salt pork and four barrels of coffee, or ten barrels of sugar... it was a welcome sight to the soldier... to see these wagons drive up to the lines." -- Pvt. John Billings, USA, Massachusetts
102. AHCTP1_140919_594.JPG: Union Six-Mule Army Wagon About 200 Union wagons parked near Brandy Station, Virginia. An army of 100,000 men required 5,000 supply wagons -- one for every twenty men.
103. AHCTP1_140919_595.JPG: This wagon was one of 5,000 that supplied Union armies advancing on Atlanta in 1864. This wagon traveled approximately 4,160 miles in its nearly five years of wartime service. After the war, veterans painted the sides with a record of its historic journeys (right). Today it is one of the last surviving Civil War wagons.
104. AHCTP1_140919_599.JPG: This wagon was built by H. Simons of Philadelphia at a cost of $150.00. Repairs (brake) $7.00. In 1861, it was used in the Army of the Potomac until 1863, when it was sent to Nashville, Tenn. From there to Chattanooga, Atlanta, Milledgeville, Millen. Gross Weight 1850 lbs.
105. AHCTP1_140919_602.JPG: Henry Simons US National Wagon Works 523 New Market Street Philadelphia
106. AHCTP1_140919_606.JPG: Milledgeville, Millen
107. AHCTP1_140919_614.JPG: US Manufacturing Centers in 1860 Red dots are cities with over 500 people employed in manufacturing. In 1860, the Northern states had the fastest growing industrial economy in the world. * The growing Northern population and expansion into the Western territories created a huge market for manufactured products. * The Northeast had all the necessary resources for manufacturing. Rivers provided water power, a large free population provided labor, and a growing railroad and canal network provided transportation. * In 1860, the state of Massachusetts alone produced more manufactured goods than all the Southern states combined. Most of that production was in cotton textiles. Production of Manufactured Goods: * 90% Northern states * 10% Southern states
108. AHCTP1_140919_618.JPG: The Election of 1860: Voter Participation: Most Americans understood the issues and cared deeply about the outcome of the election. * Whites in the North and South believed their rights and liberties were threatened by each other. They held strong opinions on slavery, freedom, and the future of their country. * Only white males over the age of 21 could vote. Most took this right seriously and went to the polls. * Women, African Americans, Native Americans, and men living in US territories were not permitted to vote. * Nearly 90 percent of all white Americans could read and write. Only about 10 percent of African Americans were literate; many held in slavery were not permitted to learn to read and write. Total US population in 1860: 31,400,000 people 17% of the US population was eligible to vote. Total eligible voters in the US in 1860: 5,390,000 people Non-voting: 15% 85% of these eligible voters cast ballots in the 1860 election.
109. AHCTP1_140919_623.JPG: The Election of 1860: Results In 1860, four candidates ran for presidency of the United States. * Abraham Lincoln (Republican Party) opposed expansion of slavery in the West. This was unacceptable to the South. * John Breckinridge (Democratic Party, Southern faction) supported expansion of slavery in the West. This was unacceptable to the North. * Stephen Douglas (Democratic Party, Northern faction) favored letting the Western territories decide for themselves if they were to be slave or free. This had already led to violence in Kansas. * John Bell (Constitutional Union Party) called for maintaining the Union and slavery without any changes. This would not solve the problem. Lincoln won because he carried the states with the largest populations.
110. AHCTP1_140919_627.JPG: US Urban Population Centers in 1860 Blue dots indicate cities with population over 10,000 Between 1800 and 1860, the North and South developed different social and economic patterns. * In 1800, the Northern and Southern states had similar economies based on agriculture. About 95 percent of Americans lived in rural areas. * By 1860, the North had changed dramatically. Over 25 percent of its population lived in cities and only 40 percent worked in agriculture. * By 1860, the South had not changed significantly. Only 10 percent of its population lived in cities and 80 percent still worked in agriculture. * The North's industrial economy encouraged immigrants and people from rural areas to settle in cities where they could find jobs in manufacturing.
111. AHCTP1_140919_644.JPG: The Specialists: The use of snipers or "sharpshooters" was one of the most brutal characteristics of trench warfare in 1864. Individual soldiers chosen for their marksmanship and armed with specially designed rifles hid near enemy lines, looking for targets. At distances up to a mile, sharpshooters picked off officers, artillery horses, or anyone who foolishly raised his head above the trench line.
112. AHCTP1_140919_650.JPG: The Science of War: Innovations in communications and engineering marked the increasing efficiency of warfare in 1864. During the war, both armies used a new system of communication: signal flags based on the telegraphers' Morse code dot and dash system. A wave of the flag to the left was a dot; a wave to the right indicated a dash. Flag signalers could spell out about three words per minute and relay messages over twenty miles away. Platforms such as this one were constructed specifically for signal flag communication.
113. AHCTP1_140919_654.JPG: The widespread use of the telegraph was the most significant innovation in military communication. For the first time, field generals had almost instant communication with their commanders hundreds of miles away in Washington or Richmond. Left, a Union signaler was photographed repairing a telegraph line. Most vast armies and their supplies across rivers, mountains, and uncharted terrain required the special skills and tools of military engineers. By 1864, Union engineers had developed quick and efficient methods for bridging rivers, building roads, and railroads, and preparing accurate maps of the South. Union troops, pictured here, guarded a railroad bridge near Chattanooga, Tennessee.
114. AHCTP1_140919_658.JPG: Col. Lemuel P. Grant's surveying compass used in the fortifications of Atlanta.
115. AHCTP1_140919_664.JPG: Total War: By 1864, Union strategy for winning the war included the systematic destruction of Southern resources. Union armies were waging war on the industries, railroads, and food supplies that sustained Confederate armies. By taking the war to the homefront, Union leaders also wanted to demoralize Southerners and force them to abandon their war effort.
116. AHCTP1_140919_667.JPG: Destroying a railroad in Georgia, 1864. Gen. Sherman gave specific instructions that the rails should be twisted, not just bent, making it impossible to repair or reuse them.
117. AHCTP1_140919_669.JPG: "The ties were soon loosened and collected into large square piles, across which the rails were placed. Being of pine, the wood burned fiercely, and the rails, soon white hot at the middle, were then bent against a telegraph pole... there were called Jeff Davis's neck ties." -- Capt. Lucien B. Crooker, USA, Illinois
118. AHCTP1_140919_679.JPG: The capture of Mobile Bay closed the last major port in the Gulf of Mexico that could supply Confederate armies east of the Mississippi River. Few people in the North recognized Mobile Bay as a significant victory. They were more concerned with the apparent lack of progress against Richmond and Atlanta.
119. AHCTP1_140919_682.JPG: Union Adm. David G. Farragut, a native of Tennessee, was a skilled and aggressive leader who had served in the US Navy since the War of 1812. During the Battle of Mobile Bay on August 5, a Union ship struck a mine (then called a torpedo) and sank with most of its crew. Other ships hesitated to advance. At this critical moment, Farragut supposedly ordered his fleet forward with the cry "Damn the torpedoes! Full speed ahead!"
120. AHCTP1_140919_686.JPG: After two months of intense fighting and heavy losses, Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant realized that his army could not capture Richmond by direct attack. The North despaired of victory. Grant besieged Richmond and the nearby railroad junction of Petersburg, hoping to wear down the Confederates in a war of attrition. Richmond's fate depended on controlling the Southside Railroad, the only remaining Confederate supply line into the city.
121. AHCTP1_140919_690.JPG: "Many a man has gone crazy since this campaign began from the terrible pressure on mind & body." -- Capt. Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., USA, Massachusetts The maze of trenches and bombproof shelters in Fort Sedgwick was typical of the Petersburg siege lines. The Confederates held Petersburg and Richmond until April 1865.
122. AHCTP1_140919_694.JPG: United States Colored Troops at the Battle of the Crater: Desperate to break the stalemate at Petersburg. Union engineers devised a bold plan to tunnel under the Confederate entrenchments, blow up an explosive charge beneath them, and attack through the breach in the line. Specially trained for this assault were newly formed regiments of the United States Colored Troops, comprised of black enlisted men and white officers. On July 30, 1864, Union engineers exploded 8,000 pounds of gunpowder under a section of the Confederate entrenchments, creating a massive crater 170 feet long and 30 feet deep. At the last minute, however, the black troops were held back and untrained white regiments were sent in first. General Ulysses S. Grant feared that the Union would be blamed for carelessly sacrificing black troops if the assault failed. In the confusion that followed, the attacking regiments mistakenly took cover in the crater. Confederate forced perched on the lip of the crater poured rifle fire and mortar shells down into the mass of Union soldiers. When the US Colored Troops were finally ordered to attack, they never stood a chance. The siege of Richmond and Petersburg would drag on for another ten months.
123. AHCTP1_140919_704.JPG: Medals of Honor of Captain Albert D. Wright, 43rd United States Colored Troops: Capt. Albert D. Wright used this sword while leading the men of Company G, 43rd US Colored Troops in the attack on the Crater, July 30, 1864. He and six of his men managed to flank part of the Confederate line, capturing a Confederate battle flag and its five-man color guard. It was one of the few Union successes of the day. Wright sustained a wound to his right arm. In 1893, Capt. Wright was belatedly awarded the Medal of Honor (left) for his actions at the Battle of the Crater. Due to widespread duplication of the original Medal of Honor patterns, the US Government issued a new pattern in 1917 (right). During the Civil War, twenty-eight Medals of Honor were awarded to white officers and black soldiers of the United States Colored Troops. Over 180,000 African Americans fought for the Union and an estimated 30,000 of these men died due to battle-related injuries or disease.
124. AHCTP1_140919_718.JPG: Confederate keg torpedo (mine) excavated from Mobile Bay, Ala. When Admiral Farragut uttered his famous command, "Damn the torpedoes! Full speed ahead!" this torpedo was one of hundreds in Mobile Bay that he was cursing. It was a simple but deadly contraption, consisting of a sealed wooden keg filled with gunpowder with wooden cones attached to each end for stability. It was held just beneath the surface of the water by a chain connected to a heavy iron plate. The torpedo fuse contained a pressure-sensitive detonator. When hit by the weight of a passing ship, the detonator created a spark that caused the gunpowder to ignite. The detonator on this torpedo appears to have been hit, but for some reason failed to detonate. The remains of the torpedo were recovered in the 1970s by Thomas S. Dickey.
125. AHCTP1_140919_725.JPG: "Atlanta is considerably marked by the enemy shots. In some parts of the town every house has been struck a dozen times." -- Lt. Andrew Neal, CSA, Georgia On August 31, Sherman's army cut the remaining Confederate railroad line into Atlanta. Hood's Confederate army had to burn their supplies and abandon the city before they became trapped in it. On September 2, Union soldiers marched into Atlanta. Sherman telegraphed Washington: "Atlanta is ours, and fairly won!" The news electrified the North.
126. AHCTP1_140919_728.JPG: "Glorious news -- Atlanta is taken at least!!!.... It is (coming at this political crisis) the greatest event of the war." -- George Templeton Strong, Northern civilian The fate of Atlanta depended on controlling the Macon and Western Railroad, the only remaining Confederate supply line into the city. The Union army got around the Confederate flank and cut the railroad at Jonesboro, 15 miles south of Atlanta.
127. AHCTP1_140919_731.JPG: With the influx of war workers and refugees, Atlanta's population had swollen from 9,000 to 20,000 by 1864. Most people fled when Union forces approached the city in July. Sherman wanted the city to be a military outpost and did not want civilian interference. On September 12, he ordered his men to escort the remaining civilian residents out of town.
128. AHCTP1_140919_734.JPG: Shattered remains of the Ephraim Ponder house near Atlanta. Union bombardments damaged many Atlanta buildings but killed only fifty civilians. The Union army provided wagons for the 1,7000 civilians evacuated in September. Many residents fled to relatives in the countryside or resettled in other states.
129. AHCTP1_140919_737.JPG: "War is cruelty and you cannot refine it... the only way the people of Atlanta can hope once more to live in peace and quiet at home is to stop this war." -- Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman, USA
130. AHCTP1_140919_742.JPG: A refugee family's shipping box and clothing: Even before Sherman's order to evacuate Atlanta, thousands of civilians living near the battle lines became refugees. The Archibald Smith family lived a few miles north of Atlanta in the town of Roswell. As Union armies approached in June 1864, the family fled to Valdosta, in south Georgia, to stay with relatives. This old wooden shipping box was one of several used by the family to pack up their belongings; the painted address is still visible on the lid. The plain homespun civilian overcoat belonged to Archibald Smith. The family did not return to Roswell until 1866. They were deeply scarred by their wartime experience and by the death of their oldest son, Willie, a Confederate soldier.
131. AHCTP1_140919_748.JPG: The capture of Atlanta restored Northern hopes that the Confederacy could be conquered. Northern morale rose dramatically and Lincoln won by 400,000 votes out of four million ballots cast. The election had been a referendum on whether or not to continue the war for the Union and emancipation. Lincoln vowed to fight on until the Confederacy surrendered.
132. AHCTP1_140919_752.JPG: "The purpose of the people... to maintain the integrity of the Union, was never more firm, nor more nearly unanimous, than now. We are gaining strength, and may, if need be, maintain the contest indefinitely." -- President Abraham Lincoln, December 1864 For the first time in history, US soldiers in the field were allowed to vote in a national election. Northern soldiers voted overwhelmingly in favor of Lincoln and the Union war effort.
133. AHCTP1_140919_754.JPG: "Never until now did I feel hopeless but since God seems to have forsaken us I despair." -- David Schenck, Southern civilian Southerners had hoped to hold Richmond and Atlanta until the North sued for peace. Now, with Atlanta in Union hands, many Southerners believed their chance for independence was over. Final defeat seemed only a matter of time.
134. AHCTP1_140919_757.JPG: "We haven't got nothing in the house to eat but a little bit of meal. Try to get off and come home and fix us all up some... If you put off coming, t'won't be no use to come, for we'll all... be out there in the garden in the graveyard with your ma and mine." -- Southern woman to her husband in the army The Confederacy's manpower shortage became desperate as soldiers deserted the armies and went home to care for their families. In October, the governor of Alabama offered amnesty to any deserters who returned to the army.
135. AHCTP1_140919_761.JPG: Poll book: The votes of Company K, 11th Pennsylvania Cavalry, were recorded in this poll book. These men from Lancaster County, Penn., were strong supporters of Pres. Abraham Lincoln. They also voted for Republican representatives and local officials in their districts.
136. AHCTP1_140919_772.JPG: Voting Box: Some Union soldiers may have voted using a voting box such as this one. Blue- or biege-colored clay marbles represented two candidates. A soldier voted by dropping the marble representing the candidate of his choice through the hole in the top of the box. When the drawer below was pulled out, the marbles of each candidate were counted and a winner determined. When not in use, the two drawers stored the two colors of marbles. The box was also used for electing officers of a volunteer regiment.
137. AHCTP1_140919_779.JPG: November-December 1864: Union forces destroyed the Confederate army that had defended Atlanta.
138. AHCTP1_140919_782.JPG: In a desperate attempt to draw Sherman out of Georgia, Gen. John B. Hood led his army of 40,000 men to attack 70,000 Union soldiers in Tennessee. The Confederate army was utterly destroyed at the battles of Franklin and Nashville. Now, only Gen. Robert E. Lee's army near Richmond still challenged Union authority.
139. AHCTP1_140919_785.JPG: "Nearly every man in the entire army had thrown away his gun... I saw many broken down from sheer exhaustion, with despair and pity written on their features... The once proud army of Tennessee had degenerated into a mob." -- Pvt. Sam Watkins, CSA, Tennessee, describing the aftermath of the Battle of Nashville, December 16, 1864 The Tennessee Campaign was the last Confederate offensive and the most complete Union victory of the war.
140. AHCTP1_140919_788.JPG: Sherman and 60,000 of his men destroyed every thing of military value in Atlanta, and then set out on a 250-mile march to capture Savannah. They destroyed railroads, burned crops, and killed livestock in a sixty-mile wide path. Sherman intended to cripple the Confederate war effort and show Southerners that further resistance was pointless.
141. AHCTP1_140919_793.JPG: "We have utterly destroyed Atlanta... I don't think any people will want to try and live there now. It is pretty bad... but it is war." -- Pvt. Theodore Upson, USA, Indiana The March to the Sea: with John B. Hood's Confederate army in Tennessee, Sherman's army met little opposition as it laid waste to some of the most fertile farmland in the South.
142. AHCTP1_140919_795.JPG: November-December 1864: Sherman's March to the Sea destroyed Southern food supplies The Burning of Atlanta: On the night of November 15, 1864, as General Sherman's army prepared to leave Atlanta on the March to the Sea, Union engineers put the city's commercial and industrial areas to the torch. Acting under Sherman's orders to destroy anything in the city that might be useful to the Confederate war effort, the engineers had already blown up or pulled down many brick buildings, including the train station. By the next day, approximately 40% of the city, including most of the downtown area, lay in ashes. Some men, acting without authority, also set fire to private homes. However, contrary to popular belief, most private homes were left standing. Rubble from Atlanta: These objects are poignant reminders of the tragedy that engulfed Atlanta on the night of November 15. Included are gun barrels fused together by the heat of the fire, an old pike head thrown down a well, a piece of burned wood recovered from the ruins on Decatur Street, broken telegraph insulators, bricks, planks, and other debris from ruined houses and buildings.
143. AHCTP2_140919_003.JPG: Five Ordinary Men: Two Extraordinary Days: July 20, 1864: The Battle of Peachtree Creek: Gen. John B. Hood, the aggressive new commander of Confederate forces defending Atlanta, launched an attack north of the city. He hoped to destroy an isolated portion of the Union army as it crossed Peachtree Creek. The Confederate attack surprised Union forces and drove them back. But after an hour of fierce fighting, Union soldiers repulsed the Confederates and inflicted heavy losses. Poor timing and difficult terrain made the Confederate attack ineffective. Sherman kept advancing on Atlanta. July 22, 1864: The Battle of Bald Hill (Battle of Atlanta): Two days after Peachtree Creek, Hood again launched an attack against Union forces, this time east of Atlanta near a large knoll known as Bald Hill. Hood's Confederates hit the Union army in the flank and center, hoping to recapture the Georgia Railroad that linked Atlanta to Augusta. The Confederates broke through the center of the Union line, but a powerful Union counter-attack pushed them back. Bald Hill was the largest and bloodiest battle of the Atlanta campaign. Sherman's army gained control of the Georgia Railroad and isolated Atlanta from the east. Sherman kept advancing and laid siege to the city.
144. AHCTP2_140919_005.JPG: The Guns Fall Silent Turning Point: 1865 "We have devoured the land... All the people retire before us and desolation is behind. To realize what war is one should follow our tracks." -- Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman, USA, Ohio 1865: Lincoln was re-elected in November 1865 and committed the Union to winning by any means necessary. 1865: Thousands of starving Confederate soldiers gave up hope and deserted. Many went home to protect their families. 1865: Union armies marched through the South, destroying anything that could support Confederate armies. * Railroads * Factories * Food supplies 1865: The war was over: * The Union captured Richmond, April 2 * Lee surrendered, April 9 * The last Confederate armies quit in May and June
145. AHCTP2_140919_007.JPG: How the Union Planned to Win: 1865: Union Strategy: Capture vital Southern territory using coordinated attacks. Destroy or wear down Confederate armies. Crush the Southern will to fight. (1) Capture Richmond and destroy Gen. Robert E. Lee's army. (2) Gen. William T. Sherman's army to march north and link up with Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's army at Richmond, destroying Confederate manufacturing and railroads along the way. (3) Capture Wilmington and Charleston and close these ports to Confederate blockade runners. (4) Destroy Confederate manufacturing centers and railroad lines. (5) Complete the blockade of Southern ports.
146. AHCTP2_140919_010.JPG: How the Confederacy Planned to Win: 1865 Confederate Strategy: Hold vital Southern territory. Hope for a negotiated peace settlement. (1) Hold Richmond and wear down Union armies. (2) Hold Wilmington and Charleston. (3) Hold manufacturing centers and railroad lines.
147. AHCTP2_140919_014.JPG: What Happened: 1865: Confederate armies surrendered. The Union won the war. (1) Union forces captured Richmond. (2) General Sherman's Union army marched virtually unopposed through the Carolinas and destroyed vast sections of the Confederacy. (3) Union forces captured Wilmington. Confederate forces evacuated Charleston. (4) A Union cavalry raid through Alabama and Georgia destroyed the last of the Confederacy's major manufacturing centers. Only Augusta was untouched. (5) The blockade became completely effective. Soldiers dead: 620,000 Soldiers present for duty: * CSA: 75,000 men * USA: 1,000,000 men
148. AHCTP2_140919_018.JPG: Shelter Tent: Corporal Charles E. Smith of the 32nd Ohio Veteran Volunteer Infantry recorded his regiment's battle history on his shelter tent. By April 1865, the regiment had served in seven major campaigns including the Atlanta Campaign. The March to the Sea and the March through the Carolinas. These three campaigns destroyed the Confederate industrial complex and Southern morale.
149. AHCTP2_140919_032.JPG: Hand-written copy of Lee's General Order Number Nine, April 10, 1865: The day after Gen. Robert E. Lee surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia, he wrote this eloquent farewell address to his men. One soldier, perhaps a staff officer, copied the address onto the back of a page from an old order book. It reads in part: "After four years of arduous service marked by unsurpassed courage and fortitude, the Army of Northern Virginia has been compelled to yield to overwhelming numbers and resources... You will take with you the satisfaction that proceeds from the consciousness of duty faithfully performed; and I earnestly pray that a Merciful God will extend to you His blessing and protection... With unceasing admiration of your constancy and devotion to your Country... I bid you all an affectionate farewell." -- Robert E. Lee
150. AHCTP2_140919_053.JPG: Maj. Gen. John B. Gordon's frock coat: It is believed that John B. Gordon was wearing this coat on April 12, 1865, as he led the remnants of the Second Corps, Army of Northern Virginia, into Appomattox, Va., to surrender. Gordon was a man of remarkable talents. With no previous military experience, this Georgian rose from the rank of captain to become one of the most capable and trusted commanders in the army. His personal courage was legendary; at the Battle of Antietam in 1862, he was wounded five times and still survived. On the morning of April 12, Gordon returned the salute offered his defeated men by Union Maj. Gen. Joshua Chamberlain. The war was finally over.
151. AHCTP2_140919_060.JPG: The End The Army of Northern Virginia Surrendered at Appomattox, Virginia on April 9, 1865 Three days later, on the chilly gray morning of April 12, Union soldiers under Maj. Gen. Joshua Chamberlain of Maine lined the road leading into the town of Appomattox. A column of Confederate soldiers under Maj. Gen. John B. Gordon of Georgia slowly marched past, preparing for the formal surrender of their weapons. Death and desertion had reduced the Confederate army to about 28,000; many survivors were gaunt and hungry. Chamberlain, moved by the sight of his defeated foes and ignoring all military authority, ordered his men to salute. Gordon, recognizing the gesture, wheeled his horse, faced his men, and ordered them to return the salute. There, in hushed silence, Northerners and Southerners once again looked at each other as Americans. The agony of the war was finally over. It was exactly four years to the day since the firing on Fort Sumter. "They fix bayonets, stack arms; then... reluctantly, with agony of expression, they tenderly fold their flags... pressing them to their lips with burning tears... On our part... not a cheer, nor word nor whisper of vain-glorying... but an awed stillness rather, and breath-holding, as if it were the passing of the dead!" -- Maj. Gen. Joshua Chamberlain, USA
152. AHCTP2_140919_074.JPG: 670,000 Americans died in the Civil War Tombstones, 1870s: The vast majority of men killed in battle were never identified; many were buried in mass graves. Identified graves were marked with wooden headboards. In the 1870s and 1880s, many of the wooden markers were replaced by permanent tombstones such as these.
153. AHCTP2_140919_078.JPG: The Human Cost: By the end of the war, 620,000 Union and Confederate soldiers and an estimated 50,000 Southern civilians had died from combat, disease, or starvation. Another 500,000 soldiers were wounded, many of them maimed for life. What had this terrible sacrifice gained?
154. AHCTP2_140919_082.JPG: CSA Men of Military Age: 1,200,000 Served in Military (1861-1865): 900,000 Numbers Died (1861-1865): 260,000 Percentage of Men of Military Age Died: 22% USA Men of Military Age: 5,000,000 Served in Military (1861-1865): 2,100,000 Numbers Died (1861-1865): 360,000 Percentage of Men of Military Age Died: 7%
155. AHCTP2_140919_085.JPG: Aftermath: Radical Republicans Tried to Change the South: "Strip a proud nobility of their bloated estates, send them forth to labor and... humble the proud traitors." -- Thaddeus Stevens, US Representative from Pennsylvania, 1865 President Andrew Johnson and the Congress could not agree on how to allow the Southern states back into the Union. After Abraham Lincoln's assassination in April 1865, President Andrew Johnson vowed to continue Lincoln's policy of reconciliation toward the South. The new president did not have Lincoln's skills and prestige and he soon lost control to the Radical Republicans in Congress. The spokesman for this faction was Congressman Thaddeus Stevens, a man of harsh and uncompromising views. To him, Southerners were traitors and the South a conquered province. He wanted to make readmission of the Southern states to the Union dependent on their enacting political and social reforms. Between 1865 and 1877, a period known as "Reconstruction," the Radical Republicans set the agenda for the South. "When [Southern states] have given sufficient evidence of their loyalty... extend to them the right hand of fellowship, and let peace and union be restored." -- President Andrew Johnson, 1866 US Troops Occupied the South: In 1867, the US Congress put the South under military occupation, declaring that no legal governments existed in ten former Confederate states. Congress required the ten "conquered provinces" to ratify civil rights amendments to the US Constitution and to write new state constitutions allowing African American men to vote and hold political office. Only after these conditions had been met were the ten "conquered provinces" to be readmitted as states of the Union. All Southern states complied with the Congressional requirements by 1870. Federal troops remained in some states until 1877. "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude... shall exist within the United States..." -- Thirteenth Amendment to the US Constitution, 1865 Congress Amended the US Constitution to Enforce Civil Rights: The Radical Republicans believed that they could control the South by imposing new social ideals. They extended the power of the federal government by amending the Constitution. Southern states were required to ratify these amendments as a condition for rejoining the Union. * 1865 -- The Thirteenth Amendment officially outlawed slavery in the United States. * 1868 -- The Fourteenth Amendment made African Americans citizens by declaring that all people born in the United States were citizens entitled to equal protection under the laws of any state. * 1870 -- The Fifteenth Amendment gave black men the right to vote in the North and the South.
156. AHCTP2_140919_089.JPG: Aftermath: The South Reacted in Fear and Defiance: "Oh, my God, when will the dark days end which seem enveloping our stricken land in deeper gloom, day by day?" -- Emma Holmes, South Carolina, 1867 Many white Southerners believed that the North was trying to destroy their society. The US Government was forcing them to give rights to people they had once viewed as their property. White Southerners saw occupation by US troops as humiliating. They thought the conditions set by Congress for rejoining the union were cruel and vindictive. In 1867, about one-fourth of the white men, including ex-Confederate leaders, were prohibited from voting until conditions for readmission had been met. Republican coalitions of newly enfranchised black men, sympathetic white Southerners, and a few Northern politicians controlled Southern state legislatures. Conservative white Southerners claimed these legislatures were corrupt and incompetent. They felt their only hope for recovering from defeat was to reassert white supremacy and to regain political control. "This is an institution of chivalry... to protect the weak, the innocent... especially the widows and orphans of Confederate soldiers." -- Creed of the Ku Klux Klan, 1868 Southern Whites Formed Secret Societies: Some white Southerners organized secret societies such as the Ku Klux Klan to keep blacks and other Republican supporters from voting. Disguised in white robes, they terrorized blacks, claiming they were "lawless" and needed to be punished. Other men secretly reorganized their old militia companies to defend their families from possible violent acts by the US soldiers occupying their states. Some Southerners Tried to Recreate Slavery: In 1865, most Southern states passed a series of "black codes" designed to recreate conditions of slavery for freed African Americans. These codes severely restricted the legal, social, and educational status of blacks. Despite the presence of similar laws in the North, many moderate Republicans saw the "black codes" as continued Southern defiance and urged harsher measures against the South. White Southerners Restored White Supremacy and Conservative Political Rule: The Republican party controlled most Southern state governments after 1867 because of the black vote and the support of many Southern whites, known as "scalawags." By 1877, conservative white Southerners had overturned all Republican-controlled state governments. All-white legislatures repealed most of the Republican civil rights laws.
157. AHCTP2_140919_094.JPG: Aftermath: Blacks Worked for Equality in Society: "The emancipated slaves own nothing, because nothing but freedom has been given them." -- Robert F. Richardson, Tennessee cotton planter, 1865 Freed African Americans wanted land, education, and political rights to guarantee their freedom and provide a chance for economic independence. During the Reconstruction era, the US Government and black Southerners actively tried to change the old social and political structure of the South. Black participation in politics and public life was the most revolutionary result of Northern victory in the war. However, most promises of Republican Reconstruction went unfulfilled. Despite their gains, many blacks found that their daily lives changed little with freedom. Gaining equal rights would be a long and difficult struggle. "We are engaged in a stubborn war... to complete the establishment of our rights and liberties. Our weapons are the spelling book, the Bible, the press..." -- Henry Garnett, former slave, 1866 The US Promised "40 Acres and a Mule": The US Government had assured some freed slaves that they would receive land to farm, but the promise was quickly broken. The Freedman's Bureau, a federal agency set up after the war to assist former slaves, did give some land owned by white planters to black families, but most Republicans thought land redistribution was going too far. They believed that any many who worked hard enough could buy his own land without government assistance. Some Blacks Found a New Political Voice: The right to vote and hold political office gave African Americans a voice in determining their own future. Blacks became strong supporters of the Republican Party and were elected to almost every kind of public office. Yet blacks made up a majority of representatives in only one state legislature (South Carolina) for a brief time. Education Became a Critical Goal: In 1865, over 90 percent of African Americans in the South could not read and write. As Reconstruction governments in most Southern states built a system of public schools, dramatic improvements took place. By the 1880s, black academies and colleges flourished.
158. AHCTP2_140919_097.JPG: Aftermath: Reconstruction Succeeded and Failed: "The Negro is now a voter and a citizen. Let him hereafter take his chances in the battle of life." -- Illinois newspaper, 1876 By 1870, all Southern states had been fully readmitted to the Union and the US Constitution included three new amendments to guarantee equal rights for all citizens. By 1876, however, Republican efforts to change the social and political structure of the South had failed. The continued use of federal power to enforce civil rights only sparked continued resistance. Conservative white Southerners regained control of their legislatures. Many Northern Republicans felt they had accomplished enough and nothing more could be done. In 1877, as part of a compromise between the Republican and Democratic Parties, the last US occupation forces withdrew from the South. Reconstruction was over. "What does it all amount to, if the black man, after having been made free by the letter of your law, is to be subject to the slaveholder's shotgun?" -- Frederick Douglass, African American activist at Republican National Convention, 1876
159. AHCTP2_140919_101.JPG: The Search for Meaning: 1865-1880 Reconstructing the Union
160. AHCTP2_140919_104.JPG: 670,000 people were dead. Americans in the North and South tried to make sense of the staggering death toll. What had they gained? How could the live together as one nation?
161. AHCTP2_140919_107.JPG: The North controlled the South: The North was setting the agenda for the future of the nation. The US Government had to decide what to do with the defeated Southern states. Under what conditions would they be allowed back into the Union?
162. AHCTP2_140919_111.JPG: The South lay in Ruins White Southerners had not won their independence. Instead, they had lost everything. The Confederacy had disintegrated. Cities and farms were destroyed. Almost a quarter of all Southern white men were dead. How could Southerners cope with defeat?
163. AHCTP2_140919_114.JPG: Slavery was Over Four million African Americans faced an uncertain future. Former slaves understood that freedom by itself did not guarantee anything. How could former slaves gain equal access to land, education, and political rights?
164. AHCTP2_140919_128.JPG: Memory Transformed: By the 1880s, the pain and anger of the war gave way to nostalgia and pride. White Americans in the North and South believed that the war demonstrated the greatness of the nation and the willingness of its people to fight and die for their beliefs. Ordinary soldiers became heroes, immortalized in stone and bronze in town squares throughout the United States.
165. AHCTP2_140919_131.JPG: National Priorities Changed: By the 1880s, most Northerners believed that they no longer needed to control the South. The US Government ended its active role in enforcing civil rights and retreated into a conservative role of protecting private industry and encouraging Western expansion. Enforcing civil rights was not part of the American agenda again until after World War II.
166. AHCTP2_140919_136.JPG: Southern Poverty Persisted: As the South struggled to recover from the death and destruction of the war, most white and black families still lived in rural areas and worked the land for a living. Many remained trapped in a cycle of debt and poverty from which there was little chance of relief. The South did not recover from the effects of the Civil War until after World War II.
167. AHCTP2_140919_139.JPG: Racial Divisions Remained: African Americans had their dreams of economic independence and political rights shattered when Reconstruction ended in 1877. Black Southerners were left with few ways to protect their freedom and personal safety in a rigidly segregated society. Memories of slavery were very real as racial violence and discrimination remained common in the North and South for the next eighty years.
168. AHCTP2_140919_144.JPG: The Lost Cause: After the war, white Southerners developed an ideology that justified their loss and suffering. They came to view the war as a noble "Lost Cause" fought to save their peaceful civilization from greedy Northern aggressors. Northerners rejected this view; they believed their victory saved the Union from arrogant Southern traitors. By 1900, feelings on both sides had cooled. Many Northerners praised the good intentions of the "Lost Cause;" many Southerners celebrated preservation of the Union. Whites in both sections downplayed the role of slavery and emphasized the common experience of a good fight, justly waged. Following the example set by the veterans, whites created a new sense of national unity. It was a unity that took place at the expense of African Americans.
169. AHCTP2_140919_148.JPG: Hard Times: In the South, the billions of dollars that had been poured into slavery were lost. Cotton was the only crop that made any money, but as more people planted it, prices fell. Many whites and blacks who did not own land became trapped in a cycle of debt and poverty. Although Southern industry began to grow in the 1880s, it took nearly a century before Southern per capita income equaled that of the North. With the federal government no longer committed to enforcing civil rights, all-white Southern state legislatures passed laws that effectively took away blacks' right to vote. Discriminatory "Jim Crow" laws, upheld by the US Supreme Court, imposed strict segregation between the races. For the next sixty years, blacks lived in a separate society with their own neighborhoods, churches, schools, and businesses.
170. AHCTP2_140919_161.JPG: Defeat: One Family's Experience: The experience of the Branch family of Savannah, Georgia, was typical of many white Southern families. During the war, they had suffered through shortages, hardships, and grief. Now the war was lost, loved ones were dead and wounded, and the survivors were in a state of shock. Was all their suffering in vain? In 1861, Charlotte Branch, a widow, had proudly watched her three sons march off to war together in a local volunteer militia company. A few months later, the oldest son John was shot at Manassas, Virginia. He died in his brother Sanford's arms. In 1863, Sanford was shot through the left lung at Gettysburg. He lived to recover in a Union field hospital but spent the rest of the war in prison camps. In 1864, Hamilton, the youngest, fought in the Atlanta campaign and was wounded twice in three months. After the war, he refused to take the oath of allegiance to the United States. Defeat left the Branches angry, defiant, and bitter. As their wounds healed, Hamilton and Sanford Branch put away their uniforms and turned their attention to civilian life. They struggled to support their mother and reclaim as much of their former lives as they could.
171. AHCTP2_140919_169.JPG: "I would rather have my boy stand on my grave and say 'My father was wounded in the Wilderness, and fought with Phil Sheridan at Five Forks, and saw Lee surrender at Appomattox,' than to have him say that I was a millionaire, or a member of the United States Senate." -- Theodore Gerrish, Union veteran, 1882
172. AHCTP2_140919_182.JPG: Aging National Heroes: By the early 1900s, Civil War veterans were national heroes, the living legends from a time before motor cars, telephones, and airplanes. One veteran wrote that he and his comrades felt as if they had "come down from a different age." As the years passed, the veterans' disturbing memories of the war faded and were replaced by stories of youthful patriotism, camaraderie, and adventure. For the veterans' children and grandchildren, the war represented a bygone era of honor and chivalry that served as a model for their own generations. They believed the heroic conduct of their fathers stood in stark contrast to the "get rich quick" values of their increasingly industrialized nation. This romantic view of the war helped shape the attitudes of thousands of Americans in the North and South.
173. AHCTP2_140919_186.JPG: "The Civil War is, for the American imagination, the great single event of our history... We became a nation only with the Civil War." -- Robert Penn Warren, Southern writer, 1961
174. AHCTP2_140919_196.JPG: The DuBose Civil War Collection: Beverly M. DuBose, Sr. (1886-1953), son of a Civil War veteran, was an avid reader and historian by avocation. His interests were broad but focused in part on the American Civil War and, in particular, the Atlanta Campaign. This interest was created through his friendship with Wilbur Kurtz, historian for the film Gone with the Wind, and Franklin Garrett, author of Atlanta and Environs. Beverly M. DuBose, Jr. (1918-1986), his son, also gained a life-long interest in the American Civil War through his father and these two men. His collecting began in earnest upon his discharge from the navy in 1946. He returned to the Civil War battlefields he had previously visited with his father -- but this time with a war surplus mine detector. Beverly M. DuBose, Jr., was accompanied almost from the beginning on these "relic hunting expeditions" by his son Beverly M. DuBose III. In 1953, the pair began collecting Civil War memorabilia from sources other than battlefields. During the next forty years, this father-and-son team amassed a collection of more than five thousand individual objects -- one of the finest private Civil War collections ever assembled. The DuBose Civil War Collection is a gift of the DuBose family to the Atlanta History Center.
175. AHCTP2_140919_207.JPG: The Last Surrender: In July 1865, Lt. James Waddell and the men of the Confederate commerce raider Shenandoah did not know the war was over. They had been at sea for ten months and were then off the coast of Alaska, capturing and burning a Northern whaling fleet. On August 2, the crew learned from a San Francisco, Calif. newspaper carried aboard an English ship that rumors of the Confederacy's surrender were indeed true. Fearing imprisonment in the United States, the crew disarmed the vessel and sailed to Liverpool, England, where they turned over the ship to British authorities. The Shenandoah was the last Confederate military entity to surrender. Final logbook entry of the CSS Shenandoah, November 5, 1863: These are the official logbooks carried on board the Shenandoah throughout its voyage. The last act of the war is recorded at the bottom of the page on the right.
176. AHCTP2_140919_221.JPG: On 5th instant arrived in the Mersey, off Liverpool, and on Monday the 6th surrendered the Shenandoah to the British Nation by letter to Lord John Russell, Premier of Great Britain. The Log is approved. James I. Weddell, Commander
177. AHCTP2_140919_229.JPG: The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln: On April 14, 1865, just five days after the surrender of Lee's army, Pres. Abraham Lincoln and First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln decided to attend a play at Ford's Theater in Washington DC. There, John Wilkes Booth, a famous actor who had strong Confederate sympathies, slipped into Lincoln's private viewing box and fired a single shot into the back of Lincoln's head. At 7:00am the next morning, Lincoln died. His wife was crazed with grief. Lincoln soon became a martyred hero to the causes of union and emancipation. On April 26, Booth was shot and killed by US Army soldiers. His accomplices, who had also plotted to kill the vice-president and secretary of state, were tried and hung a few months later. Lincoln Mourning Badge: Thousands of people, many wearing badges such as this one, lined the railroad tracks to watch a funeral train carry Abraham Lincoln's body back from Washington DC to his home in Springfield, Ill. Lincoln had last traveled these tracks in 1861 when he went to Washington to assume the presidency.
178. AHCTP2_140919_240.JPG: The Capture of Jefferson Davis: As Union armies approached Richmond, Va., on April 2, 1865, Confederate Pres. Jefferson Davis and his cabinet fled from the city. On May 10, US Cavalry troopers captured the Davis party near Irwinville, Ga. Wearing his wife's shawl as protection against the cold morning, Davis was later accused of trying to escape from his captors disguised as a woman. The United States government planned to try Davis for treason, but after he was imprisoned for two years, passions cooled. The case against him was dropped. After his death in 1889, the defiant and unrepentant Davis became a symbol of the Confederate cause. Plates used during Davis's flight: These plates were presented to Jefferson Davis by the wife of Confederate Maj. Gen. Lafayette McLaws in Washington, Ga., in May 1865. They were found in Davis's possessions when he was captured.
179. AHCTP2_140919_250.JPG: Return of a Defeated Army: After Lee's surrender at Appomattox, Va., the remaining Confederate armies surrendered one by one. By June, all resistance ended. Union armies disarmed the surrendering Confederates, issued them rations, and allowed them to return home. There, many veterans found only desolation and poverty. Confederate soldier's parole paper: Confederate soldiers who had surrendered were issued paroles, which served as legal proof of their promise not to take up arms against the United States. This parole was issued to Robert P. Tatum of the 19th Georgia Infantry on May 11, 1865, by US Army occupation troops in Atlanta.
180. AHCTP2_140919_259.JPG: Loyalty Oath to the United States: Immediately after the war, ex-Confederate soldiers and political leaders feared reprisals from the United States government. Many men signed loyalty oaths granting them amnesty for all past conduct and enabling them to vote in national elections. This oath was signed on November 15, 1865, in Atlanta.
181. AHCTP2_140919_271.JPG: Union soldier's canteen painted as a souvenir: An image of the MacLean house at Appomattox, Va., where Lee surrendered to Grant, adorns one side of the canteen; on the reverse is a painting of Fort Sumter, SC, where the war began four years earlier.
Wikipedia Description: Atlanta History Center
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Atlanta History Center is a history museum located in the Buckhead district of Atlanta, Georgia. The Museum was founded in 1926, and currently consists of 12 exhibits. There are also historic gardens and houses located on the grounds, including the Swan House and Tullie Smith Farm. The Museum houses the Kenan Research Center, which includes 3.5 million resources and a reproduction of historian Franklin Garrett's (1906–2000) office. The Museum also has one of the largest collections of Civil War artifacts in the U.S.

...

History

The Atlanta History Center was founded in 1926 by fourteen men as the Atlanta Historical Society and the next year began publishing the "Atlanta Historical Bulletin". It was led by Walter McElreath (1867–1951), after whom McElreath Hall is named. The periodical was later named Atlanta History: A Journal of Georgia and the South; it was last published in 2006.

In 1986 the still relatively small group received the DuBose Collection of Civil War artifacts, donated by Mrs. Beverly M. DuBose Jr. In 1989, the Society built the current museum to house the DuBose collection. In 1990, the Atlanta Historical Society was renamed the Atlanta History Center. The 15 million dollar museum opened in 1993 with 5 exhibitions, including Metropolitan Frontiers. An 11 million dollar expansion, finished in 1996, added two new permanent exhibits, Shaping Traditions: Folk Arts in a Changing South and Turning Point: The American Civil War and a 220 car parking deck. Later, the library was expanded, the gardens were reorganized, and a fourth permanent exhibit was added- Down the Fairway with Bobby Jones. In 2006, the Centennial Olympic Museum was finished.

In 2014, the city of Atlanta announced its intentions to relocate the Atlanta Cyclorama & Civil War Museum to become part of the History Center. The museum plans to construct an expansion to house the cylindrical panoramic painting of the Civil War Battle of Atlanta, as well as the Texas locomotive, and other pieces in the Cyclorama collection. The expanded history center is planned to be completed in 2016.
Bigger photos? To save server space, the full-sized versions of these images have either not been loaded to the server or have been removed from the server. (Only some pages are loaded with full-sized images and those usually get removed after three months.) I still have them though. If you want me to email them to you, please send an email to guthrie.bruce@gmail.com and I can email them to you, or, depending on the number of images, just repost the page again will the full-sized images.
Connection Not Secure messages? Those warnings you get from your browser about this site not having secure connections worry some people. This means this site does not have SSL installed (the link is http:, not https:). That's bad if you're entering credit card numbers, passwords, or other personal information. But this site doesn't collect any personal information so SSL is not necessary. Life's good!
Photo Contact: [Email Bruce Guthrie].