There is a great disparity in strength between the north and the south of the United States. There are 23 states in the north with a population of 22 million, and the industrial production is 10 times that of the south. There are only seven states in the South with a population of 9 million. The reason why the south dares to go to war is that it has been prepared militarily for a long time, with a high-quality army, a developed arms industry and the assistance of Britain and France. The south wants to defeat the north by making a quick decision. The American Civil War is roughly divided into two stages and two battlefields, the east and the west. The period from April 186 1 to September 1862 is a "war-limited" stage. Both sides concentrated their forces on the eastern battlefield and fought fiercely for each other's capital. The commander-in-chief of the Southern Army is robert lee, an outstanding military strategist. According to the disparity of strength between the two sides, he formulated a strategy of taking offense as defense, concentrated his forces to find the main force of the North Army, and forced the North Army to form an alliance at the gates.
However, the North was not prepared for the war, so it adopted the so-called "Viper Plan", dispersed its troops on the 8,000-mile-long front, and mcclelland, the commander who sympathized with the slave owners, took negative tactics, which made the Union army frustrated again and again. 186 1 year, the two sides held the first battle of Manacas in the eastern battlefield. On July 2 1 day, the north launched an attack to March on Richmond, the capital of the south, and 35,000 northern troops marched on Richmond in neat formation to the sound of military music. Because the north boasted in advance that the Confederate army was vulnerable, and it was Saturday, many Washington citizens, congressmen, journalists and so on. Dressed in costumes, holding his wife's belt and carrying a picnic basket, some took a carriage, some went with the army, and came to the battlefield for sightseeing, watching the excitement like a festival. 22,000 southern troops greeted each other in Manacas array, a railway hub. The northern army launched an attack on the Yugoslav army in the cheers of the audience, and the fierce artillery fire enveloped the Yugoslav position in smoke. The northern army then crossed the Boer River and launched an attack on the other side. Who would have thought that the commander of the Confederate army was the famous thomas jackson, who calmly commanded and repelled the five charges of the Northern Army, thus gaining the reputation of "stone wall". The battle was fierce, because the uniforms of both sides were almost the same, and it was difficult to distinguish between the enemy and the enemy for a while, and the battlefield was in chaos. Soon, 9000 Yugoslav reinforcements arrived and launched a counterattack.
The untrained union army collapsed at the touch of a button, leaving a large number of guns and ammunition and fleeing back to Washington. In this battle, the northern army lost 3000 people and the southern army lost less than 2000 people. Entering 1862, the situation is more intense. Lincoln ordered 500,000 troops to launch a general attack on February 22nd. The northern army won successively on the western front, almost opening the Mississippi River, the north-south artery. The navy also conquered New Orleans, the largest port in the south. But in the eastern battlefield, the northern army suffered another fiasco. McLelland, the commander of the Union Army, had 65,438+10,000 troops, but he stayed put for several months because he took the enemy's 50,000 troops as150,000. At Lincoln's urging, the "Peninsula Campaign" was launched in an attempt to capture Richmond.
Robert lee led the Confederate army. 1 From June 25th to July, Li 90,000' s army launched a "Seven-Day Battle" with 65438+ Wanbei Army. Li used maneuvering to find fighters, mobilized the North Army, and then launched an attack to find the weak links of the North Army, driving the North Army out of the peninsula near Richmond, resulting in a loss of 1.65 million for the North Army and 20,000 for the South Army. However, Li Chengsheng went north, and at the end of August, he fought the second battle of Manacas with the northern army. There are 54,000 people in the South Army and 80,000 people in the North Army. Li fully demonstrated the art of conducting. He attracted the main force of the northern army to the position with a small force, and the main force maneuvered, attacking from the flank and rear, and then attacking from the front and side, defeating the northern army in one fell swoop.
The North Army suffered casualties 14000, and 7000 people were captured. Confederate troops arrived at the gates of Washington. It was in the Battle of Antietam in September that the northern army resisted Li Jun's attack. In the naval battle, although the northern navy was unstoppable, the armored warships in the south also brought great trouble to the north.
At this stage, the south has obvious advantages. Apart from the high quality of the southern army and Li's good command, the reason for the defeat of the north was mainly that the northern bourgeoisie was afraid of revolution, did not dare to explicitly declare the abolition of slavery and liberate blacks, and fantasized about unifying the north and the south through compromise.
Lincoln was a great politician. He saw that if we want to win the war, we must make up our minds to solve the core problem of blacks and slavery. So he accepted the opinions of the people and followed the historical trend. 1862 On September 22nd, he resolutely published the Emancipation Proclamation, announcing that 4 million American slaves were liberated from 1863+0. This great historical document sounded the death knell of slavery in the South. At the same time, Lincoln also carried out a series of revolutionary policies, such as: promulgating the Homestead Law to distribute the land in the west to the people; Armed blacks; Implement the conscription system; Reorganize the military command organization, recall mcclelland who sympathized with the slave owners and fought passively, appoint Grant as commander-in-chief, levy progressive income tax on the rich, suppress the "copper-headed snake" counter-revolutionaries, and so on. These measures greatly mobilized the enthusiasm of the people in the north, and nearly one million people actively joined the army, including 230,000 black soldiers. The war entered the "revolutionary war stage" from September 1862.
Grant, commander of the Union Army, and Sherman, a famous soldier, formulated a "general strategy", that is, not only to destroy the enemy, but also to destroy its economic base and the fighting will of its residents. As Sherman said: To prevent the enemy from waging war in future generations, "we must remove and destroy all obstacles, kill everyone if necessary, take away every inch of land and confiscate every property." In a word, destroy everything we think should be destroyed ... "The northern army adopted the tactics of active attack. Since 1863, the two sides have fought three battles:
One is the battle of Lovel, chauncey. 1863 From April to May, the North Army130,000 Potomac Army and the 60,000 South Army commanded by Li fought fiercely in Lovel, chauncey. Li Ke took advantage of military strength and responded flexibly to the Northern Army. With a small number of troops, he contained the main force of the northern army head-on, attacked the northern army from the flank and rear, and defeated the northern army in one fell swoop. The northern army lost 6.5438+0.7 million people and the southern army lost 6.5438+0.2 million people. However, the South Army warrior "Stone Wall" Jackson was killed. This is the victory of the last battle won by the South.
The second time was the battle of Gettysburg. 1In June of 863, Li Jun invaded Pennsylvania with 80,000 yuan, and the north was once again in a hurry. Lincoln called the Potomac army 1 10000 people to meet him.
This time, Li underestimated his opponent and thought that he could win easily. Because of his poor command ability, he didn't use the usual containment action. Unexpectedly, the northern army appointed the brave Meade as the commander of the legion. Meade led the army to blockade Li Jun of Gettysburg, the transportation hub. On July 1 day, Li Jun captured the highland defended by the Union Army. On the first day, it broke through the northern army defense line, and the northern army suffered heavy casualties, with more than 5,000 people captured alone. Li was so proud that he stopped the troops to rest and waited for the follow-up troops to come up, giving the northern army a chance to breathe. On the afternoon of July 2, the Confederate army launched a storm with 300 cannons, and the northern army bravely resisted and resisted the Confederate attack. On the third day, the Confederate army put all its eggs in one basket and launched a general attack. Several teachers and brigade commanders personally went into battle with swords. Northern artillery devoured groups of Confederate soldiers with heavy artillery fire. However, despite heavy casualties, the confederate army finally rushed to the top of the cemetery ridge, the main position of the northern army, and the two sides launched a hand-to-hand combat. At this time, the northern army counterattacked on all fronts, and finally the southern army was wiped out. I saw the bodies of soldiers from both sides everywhere on the northern army position. Two brigade commanders, 15, the head of the southern army, were all killed, with 28,000 casualties. The northern army also suffered 23,000 casualties. General Li came back with the army. The war was the fiercest in the civil war. A tree was hit by 250 bullets on the battlefield. This battle reversed the war on the eastern front, and the north completely took the initiative.
The third is the Battle of Vicksburg. Vicksburg is a strategic place to control the Mississippi River and the western railway network. Confederate troops are heavily guarded here and are called "Gibraltar in the South". The northern army failed in several attacks. 1863 Since February, Grant led three legions with more than 70,000 people to besiege the fortress. Because the enemy's fortifications were strong, several attacks failed. Grant adopted siege tactics and cut off all enemy supply lines. After months of siege, the enemy troops in the fortress ran out of ammunition and food, even cats and mice.
The northern army shelled for another 47 days, forcing the southern army to raise the white flag and surrender on July 4. The northern army captured 37,000 enemy troops, including generals 15, and captured cannons 172. At this point, the north controlled the Mississippi River and divided the southern territory into two halves.
After World War III, the confederate army ran out of luck, and the northern army's morale became higher and higher, constantly launching a powerful offensive. 1August 863, 1 1, won the battle of Chattanooga, defeated 46,000 confederate troops, and opened the door to attack the south rear.
1864, the northern army launched a three-way offensive to the south. In the eastern battlefield, Grant adopted a consumption strategy. After the Battle of Yuan Ye and the Battle of Cold Harbor, the main force of Li Juntuan was exhausted, with a loss of 32,000, and it was unable to attack again. On the western front, Sherman rushed behind enemy lines for a long time. He commanded 6,543,800 troops to insert into the hinterland of the south, and captured Atlanta, the largest industrial city in the south, in September. From165438+1October 15, 62,000 elite soldiers were selected and launched "March to the sea". The army marched for more than a month and traveled more than 300 miles. Wherever it went, it implemented the policy of "three lights", burning plantations, towns and villages, destroying factories and enterprises, and even tearing down railway tracks to make bends. The south is full of flames and ruins. 65438+February 2 1 The army captured Savannah and completed the task of destroying the southern rear area. At the same time, the northern navy also imposed a "choking blockade" on the south, completely cutting off the foreign relations of the south.
1865, the south has run out of water and is on the verge of collapse. The union army launched its final offensive from land and sea. The northern army captured the important town of Petersburg and Richmond, the southern capital. Li Jun was forced to surrender to Grant on April 9th, with less than 30,000 beaten soldiers left. Soon, all the remnants of the 654.38+07,000 VJ laid down their weapons. At the moment of victory in the north, the slave owners in the south assassinated President Lincoln. But this dying struggle can't save the failure of the South. The American Civil War ended with the victory in the North and the demise of slavery in the South. The reason for the victory in the north was that Lincoln was able to conform to the historical trend and take a series of revolutionary measures such as liberating blacks, which mobilized the enthusiasm of the broad masses of people and blacks in the north. At the same time, the strong support of international justice forces and the disparity in economic strength between the North and the South are also important factors for the North to win.
This war has many characteristics of modern overall war: both sides have implemented the conscription system and mobilized 4 million people to participate in the war; The two sides mobilized all manpower and material resources into the war; The goal of war is not only to destroy each other, but also to destroy each other's social and economic system and completely conquer each other; 620,000 people were killed on both sides, including 360,000 people in the north and 260,000 people in the south, and1100,000 people were injured and lost $25 billion. The loss is great and the consumption is serious, which is the first in modern wars. In addition, the latest scientific and technological achievements are widely used in wars, such as wireless telegraphy, armored trains, carbines, flowering shells, photo reconnaissance, high-altitude balloons, armored ships, mines, submarines, mine-clearing devices and so on. All these have greatly changed the face of the war and made the logistics supply more complicated. Therefore, this war occupies a prominent position in military history and is called "the first modern war".
The American Civil War is the second revolution in American history, paving the way for the rapid development of American capitalism. As Lenin pointed out, it has "great, world historic, progressive and revolutionary significance".
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Lincoln ran for the presidency under the banner of abolishing slavery, but after taking office, he took maintaining federal unity as the highest goal of leading the war, so as to mobilize and organize the people to actively participate in the war, but failed to reverse the unfavorable situation. In order to weaken the southern rebels' economic and military strength and win the sympathy and support of international public opinion, Lincoln led the war from maintaining federal unity to abolishing slavery.