Fighting in the West, Waiting in the East

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Fighting in the West, Waiting in the East

The Emergence of Grant. While Gen. George McClellan brooded over Gen. Charles Stone’s arrest and continued to rehearse his impending assault upon Richmond, heavy fighting and a new Union war hero emerged in the west. Ohioan Ulysses S. Grant led a combined force of infantrymen and ironclad gunboats in February 1862 to victory at Fort Henry and Fort Donelson, Confederate strongholds on the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers just below the Kentucky-Tennessee border. An unlikely hero, Grant had left the army eight years earlier after a discouraging post on the Pacific coast. Following a succession of civilian occupations, Grant returned to the army in 1861 and quickly rose in rank and fame. During the battle of Fort Donelson, Grant refused to negotiate terms with the Confederate commander and sent a formal reply: “No terms except an immediate and unconditional surrender can be accepted.” The Northern press quickly picked up the famous lines and “unconditional surrender” soon became both a slogan and nickname for Grant. With the victories, Grant gave the Union control of both rivers and cleared the way for occupation of Nashville, the first Confederate state capital to surrender, on 24 February 1862.

The Battle of Shiloh. Grant confidently moved southward with thirty-five thousand men and established a base at Pittsburg Landing on the Tennessee

River just north of the Mississippi-Tennessee border. On Palm Sunday, 6 April, Confederate general Albert Sidney Johnston and a force of forty thousand attacked unexpectedly at dawn near Shiloh Church. Surprising many Union soldiers who were still half dressed and brewing coffee, the Southerners drove the bluecoats back toward the Tennessee River. After Union reinforcements rushed to the area during the night, Grant’s men recovered the next day and forced the Confederates to retreat to Corinth, Mississippi, twenty miles south of Shiloh. Casualties were high on both sides, accounting for more American dead than in all battles of the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, and the Mexican War combined. Although he again proved his ability to defeat Southern commanders, Grant’s reputation suffered immeasurably. Some Northern politicians and military leaders called for his removal due to the high casualty rate coupled with rumors that Grant had a drinking problem. Following Shiloh, many Americans, Southern and Northern, began to reject the romantic view of the war so prevalent during the first year of fighting.

Winning the West. More Union victories in the Western theater occurred during the spring and summer of 1862. In late April New Orleans fell to Gen. Benjamin F. Butler and Adm. David G. Farragut. In May Grant and Gen. Don Carlos Buell regrouped their battered troops and pushed the Confederates out of Corinth. In June Memphis fell to Federal naval forces after a spectacular battle between Union and Confederate gunboats.

The Peninsula Campaign. Back in Virginia, McClel-lan finally moved against Richmond in May. Avoiding an overland trek across difficult terrain, McClellan moved his men from Washington, D.C., by naval transports and landed at the tip of the peninsula formed by the York and James Rivers. In an iniative known as the Peninsula Campaign, McClellan sought to capture Richmond from the southeast. With an army numbering over one hundred thousand men and more in reserve, he moved cautiously after several victories and established a base at White House Landing, a point less than twenty-five miles from the Confederate capital. McClellan’s renewed campaign, coupled with the springtime success in the west, convinced Northern newspapers that the war was nearly over. Many Northerners eagerly awaited news detailing the doomed fate of the Confederate nation.