The Civil War 1860-1865 - The War Ends

ASU HST 200 (Historical Themes) The Civil War, 1860–1865 The War Ends It was obvious to all sides by the spring of 1865 that the Confederacy could not last for very long. Its principal ports, cities, and industrial hubs, including Columbia, Mobile, New Orleans, Atlanta, Savannah, Charleston, and Memphis, had all been taken over. Lee had given up on Richmond and Petersburg by April 1865. His intention was to bring General Johnston's Confederate soldiers together with his own, severely diminished army. Grant essentially disconnected from him. Lee turned himself up to Grant at Appomattox Court House in Virginia on April 9, 1865. At that point, Grant had about 100,000 men, while he had less than 35,000. General Johnston submitted on April 19, 1865, in North Carolina while Sherman's army continued its advance. The American Civil War was over. Over 600,000 troops have lost their lives in the conflict. There had been several casualties. There were thousands of widowed ladies. Fathers were absent from children, and many parents were left without an elderly support system. There was a generation of young ladies who were left single when local volunteer troops in some places marched out to war and never came back. Towns and cities were abandoned, along with property valued at millions of dollars. Now that the war had ended, the extremely challenging task of reuniting the North and South and reestablishing the United States awaited. It was obvious to everybody concerned by the spring of 1865 that the Confederacy was running out of time. Important Confederate strongholds had been taken over by the Union, including Columbia, Mobile, New Orleans, Atlanta, Savannah, Charleston, and Memphis. By April 1865, even the great leader of the Confederate army, General Robert E. Lee, was conceding defeat when he turned over Richmond and Petersburg. General Ulysses S. Grant, the Union's commanding general, successfully cut off Lee from his goal of uniting the surviving Confederate forces under General Johnston with his own diminishing army. All of these things came to an end on April 9, 1865, when Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox Court House in Virginia. With around 100,000 troops under his command compared to Lee's pitiful 35,000, Grant's Union forces far outnumbered Lee's. General Johnston capitulated to Union forces on April 19, 1865, in North Carolina, shortly after Lee did. Meanwhile, General William Tecumseh Sherman's Union army persisted in its unrelenting advance. The American Civil War, which had devastated the country for four arduous years, eventually came to an end with these surrenders. The fight claimed the lives of almost 600,000 troops, making it an incredibly high cost. A path of destruction and heartache was left behind by the conflict, with the death of loved ones tearing apart countless families. Children were raised without dads, widows were left to grieve for their spouses, and communities were left without the elders' support networks. There was a great sense of loss and unrest following the Civil War. Whole cities and villages lie in ruins, their once-thriving economy destroyed by the fighting. Millions of dollars' worth of property was destroyed, adding to the difficulties the country faced following the conflict. In addition, the conflict had a significant societal impact, especially on women and youth. A generation of young ladies faced uncertain futures as they struggled to come to terms with the fact that they would never get married since their local volunteer army had either died or gone to war. Following the end of hostilities, the United States was confronted with the difficult challenge of reconstructing and uniting a country that had been destroyed by conflict. Political, social, and economic obstacles will abound during the protracted and difficult process of North-South reconciliation. The Civil War's end, however, signaled the start of a new chapter in American history—one that would eventually see the country emerge stronger and more resilient than ever before, despite the enormous challenges that lay ahead.