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On nearl every levels in the lives of millions of American citizens our Civil War marked an important and unprecedented point in the history of this great nation and, indeed, for the entire world. One way or another the great changes and often painful realizations unfolding in this country were felt by everybody living here at the time. ^  * There was hardly a family in the South that did not loose a son, brother or father.   *  10,000 different locations played host to battles and skirmishes throughout the course of the 4 year war.   * Over 3 million Americans fought in the Civil War, and over 600,000 ( six hundred thousand ) men died in it. That was 2 percent of the entire population. A small number of those 600,000 deaths were discovered to be women upon being mortally wounded (see "Women in the Civil War" below)   * More men died in the 2 days of fighting at Shiloh, Tennessee than all the other American wars - combined.   * The Battle of Cold Harbor saw 7,000 men fall in just 20 minutes of fighting.     * And all of this suffering and death from people who spoke the same language, honored the same constitution and whorshiped the same God. One major contributing factor for such high casualty rates, as was mentioned above, can be understood by looking closely at a then recent invention called; rifling. To see the significance of this point one need only to understand that prior to 1861 the only long arms available to an army were smooth bore muskets. With the introduction of rifling came much greater accuracy (Rifling: spirolling grooves machined into the interior surface of the barrel giving the projectile a spin as it leaves the weapon). It has been said that a soldier shooting a common smooth bore musket was lucky to hit anything at 100 (or even 20) yards away. With the rifled musket, however, a mini ball could be shot accurately time and time again at 300 yards. Unfortunately, battle tactics were not changed to meet the deadly advances being made to the accurracy of the weapons. Rather, the armies of the Civil War were still using the old battle tactics that were used during the Revolutionary War, 100 years earlier. By wars' end the musket had assumed it place in the history books and off of the battlefield.   * At the same time that rifled weapons were becoming standard issue, a doctor, Richard Gatling, was perfecting the worlds first usable machine gun, known as the Gatling Gun. Designed to fire 250 rounds a minute, several of them were used aboard Union war ships and during the siege of Petersburg.   * Up until 1861 the people throughout this land lived their lives in a quiet, comparatively gentle manner. It were as though the collective conscience of this nation was hording and storing away all of the brains, adventure and creativity that would be unleashed at the start of the Civil War. With this unprecedented burst of creative energy came inventions like the perfected sewing machine, enabling shoe makers to manufacture 6 pairs or more of shoes per day rather than just the 2 they could manage in previous times. That may sound like a small step for the Cobbler, but it was a giant leap for all of mankind. In fact, because of the huge changes taking place in the manufacturing capabilities of the North, most Union soldiers remained well "shod" while thousands of their enemy in grey went barefoot. (for more information on "shoes" see page 5, "A Soldiers Life"    ) * One of the most familiar proliferations that began to take place right after the first battle of Bull Run was the proto type of the telephone. Fast and reliable communication between commanding officers on the field became an obvious nescessity. With crews of lumberjacks, engineers and others the Union Armies equipt themselves with telegraph ) lines for the communication they needed at many of the battlefields upon which they fought.   * To make a purchase of any kind before 1863 you used silver and gold coins (the coins being so small and easy to loose that people use to puncture a hole in them and string them together with wire or string. The would then remove them as needed without fear of loosing any). The Civil War created a need to print and distribute " Green Backs." Most of the population was against using the new paper money when they first appeared, but by the end of hostilities they were quite popular. So popular in fact that when the US government was going to cease printing the dollar bills there was such a loud out cry of protest that it came to pass that they eventually replaced the gold and silver coins of the day, and, as it were, we are still using the Green Backs today.   * Gail Borden invented the "meat biscuit" and condensed milk. Hundreds of thousands of Civil War soldiers were introduced to condensed milk during the course of the war. Because of its long shelf life veterans continued to use the product in civilian life. And because of that, today you are likely to see a can or 2 in grandma's pantry.   * When a soldier was not engaged in battle, taking part in the endless drilling, or foraging for food, he was in camp where boredom reigned supreme. One cure for boredom that many soldiers relied upon were the "yellow backs," as they were known back then. These dime novels were written about such characters as Red Rover, among others with familiar titles or names still capable of "ringing bells" for us today. Hence, todays paper back books are direct descendants of those "yellow backs" of yesterday.

January 1861

  Abraham Lincoln, known to be against slavery, and having been elected President the previous November, the South Carolina Legislature viewed that as a threat and called a state convention. The delegates voted to remove the state of South Carolina from the Union known as the United States of America. More states were to follow on that path to secession and the beginning of a National crisis.
( more on Civil War Origins ) After South Carolina then came Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas with the threat of secession by four more; Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee and North Carolina. With these eleven states the south formed the Confederate States of America. {See ( Animated Map of Southern States Leaving the Union in Order of Secession.}
You can see that almost everything west of the Mississippi River didn't yet exist.)
After 4 very long and bloody years of war these states would become conquered territory.

February 1861,

Before elections could be held, Jefferson Davis is named provisional president of the Confederacy.
After having created a Government and a Constitution similar to the Constitution of the United States, the Confederacy began taking Federal Forts.
When the United States refused to surrender to the seceding states any of the Forts they possessed, Confederate troops seized them.
A supply ship with much needed provisions was prevented by state troops from delivering.
Shortly after the Confederates fired on
Fort Sumter , war preparations, both in the North and in the South, were made in what was characterized as being like a mood of celebration, or holiday atmosphere, with both sides highly confident of their capabilities yet neither side having any real idea of what lay ahead.
Northern Historian Joel Tyler Headly recorded the story of the Civil War even while it was unfolding:

Just as the North was mislead, and terribly mistaken, so was the South.
Again, historian Joel Tyler Headly explains:

"They had been assured over and over again that the money-loving North would never go to war with (a) source of their wealth."

Such misleading stories and lies (from some politicians) did nothing but fuel the already burning fires of passion for war. The two sections of this country were on a dangerous collision course with each other...and...with the untold horrors of Civil War.

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Though it is true that the North had an advantage over the South in terms of population, material, and other war-making resources, the South, in turn, had its own set of valuable resources, namely:

  * Thousands of outdoorsmen highly skilled with horses and firearms.

  * Fighting on their own ground (in their own backyard).

*The aid of friendly civilians.

However, with the starting of war the Confederate States of America faced some big problems. The Confederate population was 9 million compaired to the Unions 19 million. The South controlled only one fourth of America's wealth, and possessed only half the amount of railroad mileage that the Union had. Although the Federal Navy was in rather poor shape the South was still badly outnumbered.

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With Europe and especially England dependent on the huge amounts of cotton grown and shipped by the southern states, there was a chance of its involvement on the side of the Confederacy. This became a thorn in the side of President Lincoln when complaints were lodged against his highly successful blockade of southern ports which badly crippled the souths economy and all but stopped any exports from all the southern states (the English sent fast sailing Sloops to run the blockade). Thus, leaving open the possibility of an even longer, bloodier conflict.

Counted among those who died during the Civil War were: Men, Women , and Children whose dedication "to that cause" we honor by this site and who made
The Ultimate Sacrifice as personal payment for the preservation of our great Nation.

and...

"that from these honored dead
we take increased devotion
to that cause
for which they gave
the last full measure
of devotion..."
From Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address

About These Pages:

  The 50+ pages that make up this Civil War Story is a diverse selection of information dedicated to many aspects of our C.W.. Letting those who lived through it tell the story with the writing they so graciously left behind.
To hear an acccount of that tumoltuous time from somebody living today is, indeed, rather interesting but, to my mind, hearing it told by the different people, in their own words, who lived it is the most riveting, fascinating, shocking, sad and funny experience one can get from a story of war.
There are over 100 photographs corresponding to what is said here and will, perhaps, give the reader a clearer overall image of this story.
Though I was able to touch on many points from that time, there is much yet to be learned
by the Present Writer.
For all of which I owe many thanks to my wife Kim, for the audio books, suggestions and insightful ideas -- my kids Kristen and Jason for the books and fiening interest -- and my friend Kenny for surprising me with cool C.W. "stuff" like a Centennial addition C.W. book and a fine U.S. North and South map. And to all of them for their God-like patience putting up with my incessant reference to anything and everything C.W...:-)   Thank You!!

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