Battle Cry of Freedom

Home > Nonfiction > Battle Cry of Freedom > Page 116
Battle Cry of Freedom Page 116

by James M. McPherson


  The pioneering study of the hard but exhilarating experiences of slaves and freedmen during the war is Bell Irvin Wiley, Southern Negroes 1861- 1865 (New Haven, 1938); the richest recent study is Leon F. Litwack, Been in the Storm So Long: The Aftermath of Slavery (New York, 1979). Ira Berlin and his team of editors have masterfully blended narrative and interpretation with illustrative documents in The Destruction of Slavery, Ser. I, Vol. I of Freedom: A Documentary History of Emancipation (Cambridge, Mass., 1985), which portrays vividly the process by which many slaves emancipated themselves by coming into Union lines and thereby forcing this issue on the army and government. The role of blacks and the process of emancipation have been the subject of monographs for several southern states: James H. Brewer, The Confederate Negro: Virginia's Craftsmen and Military Laborers 1861–1865 (Durham, 1969); C. Peter Ripley, Slaves and Freedmen in Civil War Louisiana (Baton Rouge, 1978); William F. Messner, Freedmen and the Ideology of Free Labor: Louisiana, 1862–1865 (Lafayette, La., 1978); John Cimprich, Slavery's End in Tennessee, 1861–1865 (University, Ala., 1985); Clarence L. Mohr, On the Threshold of Freedom: Masters and Slaves in Civil War Georgia (Athens, 1986); Victor B. Howard, Black Liberation in Kentucky: Emancipation and Freedom, 1862–1884 (Lexington, 1983); Charles L. Wagandt, The Mighty Revolution: Negro Emancipation in Maryland, 1862–1864 (Baltimore, 1964), and Barbara Jeanne Fields, Slavery and Freedom on the Middle Ground: Maryland during the Nineteenth Century (New Haven, 1985). A superb local study with broad national implications is Willie Lee Rose, Rehearsal for Reconstruction: The Port Royal Experiment (Indianapolis, 1964). Many of the foregoing books include accounts of the Union army's and government's flawed administration of freedmen's affairs, which is the explicit focus of Louis S. Gerteis, From Contraband to Freedman: Federal Policy Toward Southern Blacks 1861–1865 (Westport, Conn., 1973). The slaveholders' response to their loss of mastery is the theme of James L. Roark, Masters without Slaves: Southern Planters in the Civil War and Reconstruction (New York, 1977); while Lawrence N. Powell writes wryly of New Masters: Northern Planters during the Civil War and Reconstruction (New Haven, 1980).

  Index

  Abolition of slavery, see Emancipation of slaves

  Thirteenth Amendment

  Abolitionists, 54

  and Second Great Awakening, 8, 31

  women and, 35–36

  on breakup of slave families, 37–39

  resist fugitive slave law, 81–86

  and issue of nonviolence, 202–4

  and 1860 election, 221, 227–28

  on slavery and the war, 312, 354–55, 358

  growing influence of, 494–95

  oppose colonization, 509. See also Antislavery movement

  Adams, Charles Francis: and Free Soil party, 62

  on Compromise of 1850, 76

  and Know Nothings, 139

  and 1860 election, 226, 233

  in secession crisis, 256

  minister to Britain, 388–89

  on British attitudes toward war, 549

  rebukes Palmerston, 552

  on consequences of Antietam, 557

  on consequences of Emancipation Proclamation, 567

  Laird rams, 682

  Adams, Charles Francis, Jr., 567, 585, 795

  Adams, Henry: on settlement of Trent crisis, 391

  on cotton famine, 548

  fears British intervention, 555

  on Emancipation Proclamation, 567

  on Roebuck motion, 651

  on Gettysburg and Vicksburg, 664

  on Laird rams, 682

  Adams, John Quincy, 62

  African Labor Supply Association, 103

  Alabama, C.S.S., 5, 315, 316, 547–48, 551, 682

  American Missionary Association, 709

  American party, 140

  splits on slavery issue, 141

  and Republicans, 143–44

  in 1856, 153–54, 156–57, 162n

  disappearance of, 188

  "American system of manufactures," 15–19

  "Anaconda Plan," 333–34, 335, 819

  Anderson, "Bloody Bill," 292, 787, 788

  Anderson, Robert: and Fort Sumter, 264–74

  recruits Kentucky unionists, 295

  Andersonville prison: notoriety of, 755, 791

  conditions at, 796

  mortality at, 796, 796–97n, 802

  controversies about, 797–98, 801–2, 810

  Andrew, John: and 1860 election, 227

  sends regiments to Washington, 274, 286

  and General Stone, 363

  raises black regiments, 565

  Anthony, Susan B., 785

  Antietam, battle of, 538–44, 559, 569, 572

  consequences of, 545, 556–57, 561, 858

  Antislavery movement: origins of, 8, 88

  and free soil sentiment in 1840s, 54–55

  and Whig party, 86–87

  and nativism, 137–38. See also Abolitionists

  Free Soil party

  Republican party

  Appomattox Courthouse: Lee's surrender at, 684, 848–50

  northern celebration of, 850–51

  Arkansas, C.S.S., 421–22

  Armistead, Lewis A., 662

  Army, Confederate: number of men in, 306–7n

  organization and mobilization of, 316–21, 330–31n

  election of officers, 327–28

  political generals, 328

  discipline and training, 329–31

  strategy, 336–38

  tactics, 472–77

  class composition of, 614–15

  reenlistment of soldiers required in 1864, 719. See also Conscription in Confederacy

  names of battles

  names of commanders

  names of separate armies

  Army, Union: number of men in, 306–7n

  organization and mobilization of, 313, 322–26, 330–31n, 348

  election of officers, 326–27

  political generals, 328–29

  discipline and training, 329–31

  strategy, 331–36

  tactics, 472–77

  expansion by Lincoln's call for new troops, 1862, 491–93

  ethnic and class composition, 606–8

  veteran reenlistments, 719–20. See also Conscription in Union

  names of battles

  names of commanders

  names of separate armies

  Army of the Cumberland, 281, 646

  designation of, 522, 579

  crippled by Stones River, 583

  Tullahoma campaign, 669

  reinforced after Chickamauga, 675

  Thomas takes command, 676, 677

  in Georgia campaign, 744, 754

  Army of the Gulf, Red River campaign, 722

  Army of Mississippi (Confed.), 282, 515, 576, 622

  Army of the Mississippi (Union), 402

  Army of Northern Virginia, 583

  Lee named commander, 462

  casualties of, 471–72

  Maryland invasion, 534

  condition of, 535

  after Antietam, 568

  Pennsylvania invasion, 649, 651

  at Gettysburg, 655–56, 660

  after Gettysburg, 671

  Longstreet's divisions at Chickamauga, 672

  morale in 1864, 719

  Wilderness campaign, 724

  casualties spring 1864, 743

  Army of the Ohio, 402

  at Shiloh, 412

  Chattanooga campaign, 512–13

  captures Knox-ville, 670

  in Georgia campaign, 744

  Army of the Potomac, 282, 525, 685

  created by McClellan, 348–49

  idleness of, 367

  corps organization, 424

  resilience of, 469, 652

  casualties, 471–72

  reveres McClellan, 505, 534

  and 2nd Bull Run, 528

  absorbs Army of Virginia, 533

  in Antietam campaign, 538, 540, 541, 581

  a
nd Emancipation Proclamation, 559

  removal of McClellan from command, 561, 569

  after Antietam, 568

  Burnside as commander, 570

  demoralization after Fredericksburg, 584

  morale rise under Hooker, 585, 639

  after Chancellors-ville, 646

  in Gettysburg campaign, 651–52, 653–55, 663, 667

  after Gettysburg, 671

  two corps to Chattanooga, 675–76, 681, 744, 754

  Grant makes headquarters with, 718

  conscripts and substitutes, 720

  and Wilderness campaign, 723–24, 728

  Cold Harbor syndrome, 735

  move to Petersburg, 739–40

  crippling of, by Wilderness to Petersburg campaign, 741–42, 743, 756

  black troops in, 759

  revival of fighting tone, 780

  and McClellan's presidential candidacy, 803

  breakthrough at Petersburg, 844–45, 846

  Grand Review, 853

  Army of the Shenandoah, 758, 779

  Army of Tennessee (Confed.), 281

  Perryville campaign, 515

  dissension in, 576, 583, 676–77

  retreat after Murfreesboro, 582

  desertions from, 613

  low morale of, at Chattanooga, 681

  improvement of morale under Johnston, 750

  after fall of Atlanta, 807

  destruction of, 811, 813, 828

  debate over arming blacks in, 832–33

  Army of the Tennessee (Union): formal creation, 512

  and Grant, 589

  reinforces Chattanooga, 676

  in Georgia campaign, 744

  Howard named commander, 754

  Army of Virginia, 501

  Ashby, Turner, 456, 457, 458

  Atchison, David R.: and Kansas-Nebraska Act, 122–23

  slavery issue in Kansas, 145–48, 155

  Atlanta: campaign for, 743–53

  battles for, 754–56

  fall of, 773–75, 776, 858

  Bagby, George W., 428

  Baker, Edward, 362

  Baldwin, John, 271

  "Balloon-frame" construction, 16–17

  Ball's Bluff, battle of, 362, 367, 444

  Baltimore: assassination plot against Lincoln, 261–62

  mob attacks 6th Mass., 285

  arrest of secessionists in, 287, 289

  Banks, Nathaniel P., 488

  elected speaker, 144

  in 1856 election, 154, 156

  political general, 328

  in Shenandoah Valley, 350, 425, 455

  defeated by Jackson, 456–57, 501

  at Cedar Mountain, 526

  transferred to Louisiana, 624

  capture of Port Hudson, 637–38

  Texas campaigns, 683

  and Louisiana reconstruction, 703–8

  freedmen's labor regulations of, 711

  Red River campaign, 722–23

  Banks and banking: as antebellum political issue, 26–31, 158, 160, 173, 191–92

  wartime creation of national banking system, 444, 453, 593–94

  Barker, James, 135

  Barton, Clara, 483, 532

  Bates, Edward, 217, 260, 364

  Battles, dual names, 346n

  Beard, Charles and Mary, and "Second American Revolution" thesis, 452–53

  Beauregard, Pierre Gustave T., 321, 857

  in Mexican War, 4

  and Fort Sumter, 267

  opens fire, 273

  strategic ideas of, 336, 337–38

  first Manassas, 339–46

  designs battle flag, 342

  in Virginia theater, 361

  feud with Davis, 365–66

  transferred to West, 367, 397–98

  Shiloh campaign and battle, 406–14

  evacuates Corinth, 416–17, 418, 488

  relieved of command, 516

  bloodthirsty response to Emancipation Proclamation, 565–66

  commands Charleston defenses, 576, 646, 677

  back in Virginia, 723

  and battle of Drewry's Bluff, 724

  defense of Petersburg, 740–41

  Bedini, Gaetano, 133, 135

  Bee, Barnard, 342

  Bell, John: presidential candidate in 1860, 221–22, 228, 229, 232, 703

  embraces Confederacy, 277

  Bellows, Henry, 481, 482

  Belmont, battle of, 396, 401

  Benjamin, Judah P.: on secession, 237, 254

  Conefederate secretary of state, 373

  "peace negotiations" in 1864, 768

  and Kenner mission, 838

  Benton, Thomas Hart, 49, 155, 158, 353

  Bentonville, battle of, 830

  Bickerdyke, Mary Anne, 483

  Bickley, George, 116

  Big Black River, battle of, 630–31

  Black, Jeremiah, 266

  Black Hawk, 45

  Black laws

  in Ohio, repealed, 67n

  in northern states, 88

  in Kansas, 159

  in Illinois, 507

  repeal of, during and after war, 840

  Black sailors, in Union navy, 563–64

  Black soldiers in Union army: number from upper South, 306

  authorized by 1862 militia act, 500

  sanctioned by Emancipation Proclamation, 563

  first regiments organized, 564

  54th Mass., 84n, 565

  southern response to, 565–66

  and prisoners of war issue, 567, 650, 792–96

  southern murder of captured soldiers, 634

  fighting of, at Milliken's Bend, 634

  at Port Hudson, 637–38

  in Arkansas, 668

  assault on Fort Wagner, 686–87

  at Petersburg, 740

  massacre of, at Fort Pillow, 748 and n, 793, 794–95

  at the Crater, 759–60, 793

  Lincoln on contributions of, 769

  issue of equal pay for, 788–89

  in battle of Nashville, 813, 815

  Black suffrage: defeated in New York, 137, 159–60, 224–25

  as an issue of reconstruction, 701–2, 705, 707–8, 843–44

  Blackwell, Elizabeth, 480

  Blair, Austin, 227

  Blair, Francis Preston: in 1856 election, 154

  in 1860 election, 217, 260

  and Early's raid, 757

  and Hampton Roads conference, 821–22

  Blair, Francis Preston, Jr.: and struggle for Missouri, 290–92, 352, 717

  appointed general, 329

  attacks Chase, 714–15

  Blair, Montgomery: postmaster general, 260, 261

  and Fort Sumter, 268

  opposes Emancipation Proclamation, 505, 557

  role in Lincoln's reelection, 714

  home burned by rebels, 757

  resigns, 776

  Blockade of southern ports: initiation of, 313–14, 316, 335, 350, 355

  operation of, 369, 373, 378–79

  effectiveness of, 380–82

  and foreign relations, 382–83, 385, 386–88

  Blockade runners, 378–80, 386, 546–47

  Blunt, James G., 668

  Booth, John Wilkes, 851, 853

  Border states: dilemma of, after Sumter, 276–77

  remain under tenuous Union control, 284–97

  importance of, 306–7

  issue of emancipation in, 498–99, 502–3

  Botts, John Minor, 434

  Boyce, William, 428

  Boyd, Belle, 456

  Bradford, William F., 748

  Bragg, Braxton, 597, 613, 626, 646, 696, 735

  in Mexican War, 5

  approves Brooks's assault on Sumner, 151

  Shiloh campaign, 406

  replaces Beauregard as commander, 417

  Kentucky invasion, 515–18, 524, 534, 535, 545, 858

  battle of Perryville, 519–20

  at Murfreesboro, 561, 577

  dissension with corps commanders,
576, 583

  battle of Murfreesboro, 579–82

  sends reinforcements to Johnston, 633

  Tullahoma campaign, 669

  evacuates Chattanooga, 670, 703

  Chickamauga campaign and battle, 671–74

  besieges Chattanooga, 675

  new quarrels with generals, 676–77, 747

  and battles of Chattanooga, 677–80

  relieved of command, 681, 719

  as Davis's military adviser, 752–53

  evaluation of, 857

  Brandy Station, battle of, 649

  Breckinridge, John C.: as vice president, 194

  presidential candicacy, 216, 222, 223, 228, 232, 251, 285

  joins Confederacy, 296

  division commander at Murfreesboro, 580–82

  dislike of Bragg, 583

  battle of New Market, 724

  Brice's Crossroads, battle of, 748

  Bright, John, 549–50

  Britain: and slavery as issue in war, 311

  and Monitor-Virginia battle, 377

  and Union blockade, 380, 383, 385, 386–87

  and southern cotton, 383–86

  issue of recognizing Confederacy, 387–89, 545

  Trent crisis, 389–91

  mediation moves in 1862, 546, 554–57

  and Confederate commerce raiders, 547–48

  cotton famine, 548–49

  public opinion toward American war, 548–53

  and Emancipation Proclamation, 557–58, 567

  Roebuck motion, 650–51

  Laird rams, 682

  Kenner mission, 837–38

  Brooks, Preston, 149–52

  Brough, John, 686

  Brown, Albert Gallatin, 68, 106, 118, 178

  Brown, George, 289, 290

  Brown, Isaac Newton, 421

  Brown, John, 84

  in Kansas, 152–53, 169

 

‹ Prev