-The Western Theater of the war
-The Battle of Shiloh
-Control of the Mississippi
-The Peninsular Campaign
-The Second Battle of Bull Run
-The Maryland Campaign
-The Emancipation Proclamation
-The Battle of Fredericksburg

[SLIDE 1]

Despite their better supplies and greater numbers, Union troops were repeatedly bested by Confederate troops in the war's second year. In the border state of Missouri, the rampant violence and destruction that marked the earlier period of Bleeding Kansas continued. Confederate Texans invaded New Mexico, attacking Union soldiers at various locations but were unable to resupply because retreating Union forces destroyed any storehouses behind them, so the Texans had to retreat back to Texas. Some of the Indian tribes who had been forced to move along the Trail of Tears into the new Indian Territory south of Kansas made alliances with the Confederacy, hoping for better treatment than they had received from the United States government. The Confederacy, for its part, wanted an avenue for resupplying their troops, as well as a buffer zone between themselves and the Union forces in Kansas. As negotiator, the Confederacy sent General Albert Pike who was known to the Indians for having previously represented the Creeks in court. The treaty stated that the Indians would only be asked to fight in their own territory.

[SLIDE 2]

In the Western theater of the war, Ulysses S. Grant moved down the Mississippi Valley as part of the Anaconda Plan, successfully penetrating Confederate defenses and bringing Kentucky and much of Tennessee under his control. The Union force, known as the Army of the Tennessee, had moved via the Tennessee River deep into Tennessee and was encamped principally at Pittsburg Landing on the west bank of the Tennessee River in southwestern Tennessee. While Grant waited for reinforcements, Confederate general Albert Johnston was reorganizing the Southern troops and his Confederate Army of Mississippi waged a surprise attack against Grant from its base in Corinth, Mississippi. Johnston had hoped to defeat Grant before the arrival of Major Gen. Don Carlos Buell's Army of the Ohio, but Johnston was mortally wounded during the fighting; his second in command, P.G.T. Beauregard, assumed command and decided against pressing the attack that evening. Overnight, Grant received his expected reinforcements, including three divisions from the Army of the Ohio. The Union forces then began an unexpected counterattack the next morning which reversed the Confederate gains of the previous day, and the Confederate forces had to retreat.

[SLIDE 3]

Through the Spring of 1862, U.S. naval forces were able to gain control of both the upper and lower Mississippi, but Vicksburg continued to stand as a Confederate stronghold.

[SLIDE 4]

Richmond, as the capitol of the Confederacy, was the prize the Union public coveted. General McClellan finally moved against it, but in a surprising way—by approaching from the South. McClellan landed his army at Fort Monroe and moved northwest, up the Virginia Peninsula. As they moved up the peninsula, there were battles. When they approached Richmond, Johnston launched a surprising attack at the Battle of Seven Pines. Johnston was wounded by a Union artillery shell fragment on May 31 and replaced the next day by the more aggressive Robert E. Lee. Both sides claimed victory at Seven Pines, but the replacement of Johnston with Lee is what would change the course of events. While a shaken McClellan planned for the siege and capture of Richmond, Lee reorganized the army, built a defensive line around Richmond, and prepared for offensive action in final battles known as the Seven Days Battles. McClellan's indecision is no match for Lee's assertiveness, and the campaign is finished, with massive casualties on both sides.

[SLIDE 5]

The South had numerous talented officers, while Lincoln struggled to find one to lead the Army of the Potomac. When Pope turned out to be a disappointment, he turned again to McClellan, but Lincoln would soon look elsewhere again.

[SLIDE 6]

While Stonewall Jackson attacked and captured Harpers Ferry (September 12–15), McClellan's army moved quickly through the South Mountain passes that separated him from Lee. Harpers Ferry was important because it held a federal arsenal and huge garrison, but also because it is situated at the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers, where the states of Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia meet. It is the easternmost town in West Virginia and during the Civil War the northernmost point of Confederate-controlled territory. Harpers Ferry was a vital north-south route connecting Washington with the west and the Ohio Valley, and telegraph lines connecting Washington with the west also went through Harpers Ferry. Lee wanted it for his supply lines, but also to provide a possible route for retreat. Harpers Ferry changed hands repeatedly during the Civil War.

The Battle of South Mountain on September 14 delayed McClellan's advance and gave Lee time to concentrate most of his army at Antietam (Sharpsburg.) Lee was outnumbered two to one, but McClellan never capitalized on localized successes to destroy the Confederates. On September 18, Lee ordered a withdrawal across the Potomac. McClellan sent a force to pursue, which Stonewall Jackson repulsed. Lincoln blamed McClellan for not soundly defeating the Confederate forces and for not pursuing them thereafter. He replaced McClellan with Ambrose Burnside, who would also prove a disappointment.

[SLIDE 7]

Only five days after the horrific Battle of Antietam, Lincoln issues the Emancipation Proclamation. His Cabinet advisors had told him he needed a military victory before issuing it. The purpose, apart from dealing an obvious blow to the South, was to rally Radical Republicans, and perhaps more importantly, prevent England or France from giving formal recognition to the Confederacy. The move was designed to elicit support in Europe from countries where there was a good deal of popular sentiment against slavery, clarifying for them that it was the institution of slavery itself that was at stake in this war. The Proclamation actually freed no slaves because it pertained only to slaves within the Confederacy, which was beyond Union control. It was, for the most part, a successful gambit.  Another military loss at Antietam might have brought France and Germany to recognize the Confederacy. Now, with the victory at Antietam and the Proclamation, neither Britain nor France would recognize the Confederacy. In addition, abolitionists in the North rejoiced. The rationale behind the war had now shifted, however, and was no longer only about preserving the Union.

[SLIDE 8]

Burnside, whose facial hair led to the word "sideburn," had a plan that involved crossing pontoon bridged into Fredericksburg and then moving quickly on to Richmond, but things did not work out that way. For starters, he didn't receive the pontoon bridges he requested. He nevertheless ordered a full frontal assault against a well-defended high ground. The battle was one-sided and devastating. Lincoln would again be searching for a replacement general for the Army of the Potomac.