Civil War Turning Points Essay Example For Students

Civil War Turning Points Essay CIVIL WAR (A discussion of the turning points and major events)In this paper I shall discuss four points concerning the civil war in detail. The first issue addressed will be Professor McPhersons arguments in the text Ordeal by Fire and whether Antietam and Emancipation, Gettysburg, Vicksburg, and Chattanooga, represent the three critical turning points in the Civil War. Second, I will rank the three points from greatest to least in terms of their importance on the Civil War. Third, I will add a fourth event I feel was significant to the turning of the war. Antietam and EmancipationThe Union and Confederate Armies met at Antietam Creek near Sharpsburg, Maryland, on September 17, 1862, in the bloodiest single day of the war: more than 4,000 died on both sides and 18,000 were wounded. McClellan failed to break Lees lines or press the attack, and Lee was able to retreat across the Potomac with his army intact. The professor suggests that this may have been the major turning point in the Civil War. I would have to agree, had the confederates been successful in this battle it is quite possible the European nation would have become involved in the war. The European nations had a special interest in the war from a financial point, since Most of the European nation and the south where dependent on the trade of cotton. Mediation would have been a most plausible interceding by Great Britain or France. The Confederates where hoping for financial or military support, but I do not think that Great Britain was willing to come back to North America an d fight another war. Lee had suffered his first defeat, this would not have been so important if it where not for the numbers of casualties the South suffered in this battle. Had they been able to fall back with minimal losses, they may have been able to regroup into a more offensive position and continue the quest to Washington. McClellan, being the eternal idiot, failed to literally win the war on this day. By his choosing to hold back three quarters of his men he was unable to give a decisive defeat to Lees army and prolonged the war to see more bloody days. Had McClellan attacked with his entire army, it is quit possible he may have driven Lees army back to Richmond and ended the war. However, the fact that he was able to fight the rebels to a draw, kept the European nation from becoming involved with the war. The Souths only real hope in this war was the movement into Union territory in an effort to gain realistic consideration from the European nations. Lees inability to take Antietam may have been the actual defeat of the Confederate army. President Lincoln needed a strong showing by the Union troops to shift the focus of the war to a cause higher than man himself. Lincoln was a calculating individual. He knew that with the casualties being suffered in this war, therefore, the American people would not let it continue for the sake of land and principal. This battle enabled him to issue the proclamation, which abolished slavery. While this proclamation did not free slaves in any of the Confederate States, it did create a new hope to the war. Once again the American people where fighting for freedom, something they understood and valued above all else. While the proclamation in it legality was inconsequential in its affect on the Confederate states, it carried great power in the Union. The people needed a will to fight, they had previously been given a reason. The professor alludes to this same point by quoting, A poor document, but a mighty act . Emancip ation may have very well been another reason why the European nations stayed out of the war. Great Britain, being an anti-slavery country, in all likelihood felt it prudent to wait and see if it could resume normal relation with an anti-slavery country. Should the Confederacy prevail, they would deal with the two parties as independent nations. The emancipation had another unique aspect. It created over 100,000 new troops in the Union army, granted many of them never saw battle, but the unites which did see action and the support given by the remaining units was invaluable. Treating Diabetes with Transplanted Cells EssayWhile every moment in history is important to the coming moments, none were more important than the moments discussed supra. I believe that I have discussed them in the order of importance, however, I am sure that many historians would challenge my stance and denote the Gettysburg, Vicksburg, and Chattanooga battles as the main turning point in the war. I believe that they are significant only in their magnitude of destruction of the Confederate Army. More important is Lee being stopped cold in his march South, had he been victorious, he would have walked to the nations capital and placed the Confederate flag on the White House. The war may not have been over at that point, but it would have taken many years to push the Confederates back into the South. In addition to the turning points I have listed, I would add the march to the water by Sherman. One thing which made the Confederate so tough in battle, was the fight for their new coun try and their willingness to endure. When Sherman began his mighty march, a pace almost to incredible to believe, with it he took the Souths ability to endure. War is easy for the civilian when it does not reach them, Sherman brought it to them in a very personal way. As Shermans war machine moved through the South, a literal hell was left in his tracks. This was Potters raid. Sherman only took our horses. Potters raid which was after Johnsons surrender ruined us finally, burning our mills, and gins and a hundred bails of cotton. Indeed nothing is left now but the bare land and debts . The demoralization of the Southern citizen, and the effect on the rebel solder as he tried to fight, knowing his family to be in peril, was more of a killing machine than Grants entire Army of the Potomac. History has shown us that psychological warfare is an invaluable tool, Sherman knew this as a key to victory. In addition to the devastation it caused, it allowed his troops to move continuously, li ving off the world around them, vacating the need for re-supply and creating a self sustained war machine. I do not believe this to be the cause to the defeat of the Confederate Army, but it did hasten the conclusion of the war by countless months. In conclusion, while these four issues have had a major impact on the Civil War, I must add that it is the men who fought and died in horrific confrontations, which preserved our present way of life. Honor must be additionally given to the brave men of the Confederacy who fought equally for their country in the face of insurmountable odds. Realizing and understanding the importance of this conflict in American history, enables use to understand the American people for the next century. Bravery and honor are the foundation of the American spirit, never was it more evident than in the American Civil War.