America at War

We are now moving beyond the Civil War and examining the armies role in the western United States. In the decades after the Civil War came to an end, the regular army was sent west. After 1865, with the completion of the transcontinental railroad and the Homestead Act, settlement of the west accelerated. Unfortunately, as the western states began to wholesale colonization, it brought them into conflict with the native peoples who lived in the areas west of the Mississippi River. As this series moves forward, we will handle the various conflicts that were peppered throughout this period from a regional perspective, going west to east. Stay tuned!

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The period from the end of the Civil War until 1877 was known as Reconstruction. As the name suggests, it was the country's attempt to reconstruct and, perhaps, transform the South. The hope was to not only stitch the country back together again, but provide the freedmen a step up, to integrate the formerly enslaved population back into society. Tensions between Congress and the President led to an uneven and imperfect process. The Army was the only institution that could provide stability, but never had enough men to stamp out the violence and change the attitudes prevalent in the South. By 1877, the north had lost interest and the south put into place a system of control that would not be overturned for a century.

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We have reached the penultimate episode of our series on the Civil War. We briefly touch on the surrender of the Confederate field armies but devote most of our time to looking at issues related to the winners and loosers of the war. It is fair to say that Lincoln won the war, but lost the peace. We don't explore all of the issues that led to the defeat of the Confederacy, but we concentrate on the sailient points. Take a listen!

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In this episode, we concentrate on the siege at Petersburg, VA. With Grant unable to destroy the Army of Northern Virginia in the 1864 campaign season, instead he maneuvered Lee's Army into Petersburg for an extended siege. While Lee's army was able to fight another day, as Grant extended the siege lines around Petersburg, Lee's forces were stretched far too thin. In the spring of 1865, Lee was hoping to shorten his lines with an attack on a Union fortification. Unfortunately, it failed and Lee was forced to evacuate the siege lines and attempt to head south and join with Joe Johnston's forces. Short on men and supplies, Lee's gambit failed and he laid down his arms on April 9, 1865. The war was over.

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In our last full episode devoted to the western theater, we know turn our attention to Sherman's next act, his march through the Carolina's. When he completed his march across Georgia, the thought was to reunite with Grant. Instead, Sherman wanted to march through the heart of the Carolina's to the border of Virginia. Imperiling Lee's supply line. Grant agreed to the idea. Sherman marched through the heart of the Confederacy, further wrecking the fragile Confederate economy, and driving morale down to the bottom of the barrel. Despite Jefferson Davis naming Robert E. Lee General-in-chief of the Confederacy, it was too little, too late. The end of the war was in sight. Take a listen!

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Once Atlanta was secured, Sherman considered next steps. Sherman mulled over an idea - marching through Georgia. After deliberations with the Lincoln Administration and General Grant, Sherman convinced them to back his plan. He wanted retribution and to demonstrate what the Union could do. In a severe blow to Confederate morale, Sherman wrecked the economy of Georgia. Rather than contesting Sherman, Confederate General Hood marched north to Tennessee to distract Grant and the Union high command. Grant and Sherman had planned for this. Hood wrecked the remainder of his army at the battle of Franklin. The heart of the Confederacy was defenseless.

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In this episode we journey east. In the aftermath of the disaster at Cold Harbor, Grant turned his eyes toward Petersburg, the critical supply hub for the rebel capital at Richmond. While giving Lee the slip, Grant's tired troops bungled the capture of Petersburg. A siege ensued. In the meantime, in an effort to siphon troops from the siege line, Jubal Early launched a raid on Washington, DC. While it temporarily succeded in drawing forces off the siege lines, it caught the attention of Grant, who ordered Phil Sheridan to the Shenandoah to stop Confederate intrusions. He did that and more - destroying Early's force and denuding the valley of supplies for the Confederates.

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In our last episode we covered Sherman's march to Atlanta. In this episode we cover the siege and fall of Atlanta. Dissatisfied with General Johnston's penchant for retreat, Confederate President Jefferson Davis replaced him with John B. Hood. Hood was the polar opposite of Johnston - aggressive to the point of recklessness. Upon taking command, Hood tangled with Sherman in attempt to stop his advance on Atlanta. Given Hood's desire to attack, he may have slowed Sherman down, but could not stop him from layng siege to Atlanta. In the end, all Hood accomplished was waste his army away with quesionable attacks.

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In this episode we head west and focus on General Sherman's march on Atlanta, Georgia. After the victory at Chattanooga, moving into the Confederate heartland and neutralizing Atlanta seemed a prudent next step. Over the summer of 1864, General Sherman and his opponent, General Johnston maneuvered, retreated, skrimished, and occasionally fought from Tenneesee to Atlanta. Johnston prudently chose to give up space for time to preserve his army, but the Confederates could not afford to do so. Faced with a great deal of criticism, as Sherman's army arrived at the gates of Atlanta, Johnston was replaced with John Hood who, in the later half of the campaign, would destroy the army Johnston wanted to preserve.

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In this episode we continue our coverage of Grant's overland campaign. After the wilderness and Spotsylvania Grant continued to move south with Lee moving in concert with him. After being stopped at North Anna, Grant continued south and wandered into the battlefields of McClellan's campaign in 1862. Grant and Lee met again at a place called Cold Harbor. Lee entrenched. Grant attacked. While Grant would recognize that it was a mistake to attack, for Grant's critics, Cold Harbor was synomous with his new nickname, 'butcher Grant'. I weight the evidence and conclude that Grant's failures at Cold Harbor can't be seen in isolation with the other battles of the Overland campaign. Take a listen!

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