Battle of Gettysburg

Dear Diary,
So much has happened over these past few weeks. Recently General Lee's troops have invaded up through Virginia and are currently somewhere around Pennsylvania. It is said that there was a major battle in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Some of the Confederate soldiers were going to seize some shoes from a local shoe factory when they came across a large group of Union soldiers led by General John Buford. The Union soldiers headed to the northwest part of town and called in reinforcements. The battle itself lasted for three days total. On the first day, the Confederate soldiers pushed the Union force back onto higher ground in the south part of town. On the night after the first day, the Union reinforcements arrived. The Union troops dug a trench that was two and a half miles long. The Union used the fact that they now had the high ground to their advantage. The confederate soldiers tried to move against the Union soldiers by dividing into two groups and attacking each end of the line. There was a commotion on Little Round Top (one of the hills at the end of the line). Colonel Joshua L. Chamberlain of the Union army and his men fought against the Confederate army on Little Round Top. When the Colonel's numbers were getting low, he ordered a bayonet charge against the Confederate soldiers. Hundreds of Confederate soldiers had to surrender by the end of July 2, 1863. Lee still thought he could win the battle if they attacked one more time. Lee had an artillery barrage aimed at the center of the Union line thinking it would be the thing to finally break the defenses. When Lee's men finally marched forward, they were plowed down by Union cannon and riffle fire. When Lee ordered General Pickett's division to reposition he had to face the sad fact that there no longer was a division. By the end of the Battle of Gettysburg, more than 50,000 were dead or wounded. Almost a third of Lee's forces were included in that 50,000. This battle made Lee give up on his invasion of the North and go back to the South. Lincoln honored the dead by creating a cemetery for the fallen soldiers. He gave this very inspiring speech that has become known as the Gettysburg Address. In this speech, he talked about all the troubles we have seen in the Civil War. He also stated that all men are equal in this address. This is the last time the Confederate army tried to fight on the North's land. Here is a photo of the dead at the Battle of Gettysburg:

That's all for now Diary,

Rebecca

The Dead at the Battle of Gettysburg. N.d. CivilWar.org. Web. 17 Feb. 2016. 

        <http://www.civilwar.org/photos/galleries/gettysburg/images/dead-at-

        gettysburg.jpg>.

Life As A Soldier and Women in the War

Dear Diary,
About half of the population of eligible men from the Union are fighting in the war. Four out of every five eligible men in the Confederacy had to fight. Many of the soldiers got their first chance to travel when they were traveling with the troops. Soldiers are often homesick being unused to being so far away from home. Soldiers past time between battles by playing games, attending religious revivals, and writing letters home. Some soldiers end up having to be fighting against their own brothers or cousins depending on their family and location. New bullets made killing much more effective in the war. We have never seen so many dead soldiers before. Because the doctors are not aware of the possible infections that come with amputations in the field. There are a lot of soldiers getting amputations nowadays. There is not a lot of clean water and illnesses get passed around very easy. There are also prison camps now. At the prison camps, some soldiers were even outright killed. One camp that I have heard about is in Anderson, Georgia. Currently, in 1864, about 33,000 Union prisoners at the camp in Anderson. Black prisoners in the Confederate prison camps were often killed immediately. There is so much happening lately with the war going on. Here is a photo of one of the camps:

That's all for now Diary,

Rebecca

Civil War Photos. N.d. Web. 15 Feb. 2016. <https://www.archives.

        gov/research/military/civil-war/photos/images/civil-war-072.

        jpg>.

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Dear Diary,

Many of my friends and I have had to take on new responsibilities with the men going off to war. Some have gone off to become nurses in the war. I have had to help my family with our business. Some of my female friends have had to help on the farms and plantations. We even have some within our friend group that have gone on to teach at schools. There are stories told between us of women who have dressed as men and fought in battles for both the North and the South. There are some women in my town who have gone on to do laundry and cooking for the men in the camps. One story that we have also heard about is about a girl named Clara Barton. She assists with helping the sick and wounded on both sides. Clara has helped start the United States Sanitary Commission that allows for women to oversee hospitals. It was signed off by President Lincoln. Here is a photo of Clara Barton:

That's all for now Diary,

Rebecca

Clara Barton. N.d. Web. 15 Feb. 2016. <http://www.uncompromis

         ingcommitment.org/wp-content/sdaolpu/2012/08/clarabar

         ton.jpg>.

Troubles on The Home Fronts

Dear Diary,
I have heard a lot about troubles on the home front from the soldiers passing through town. From what I understand, here are problems on both the North and South's home fronts.
Here is a list of events in the North:

• Problems with the textile industry because they had to drop the southern cotton. 
• Having to pay for the war; creating income tax.
• Legal Tender Act: the treasury creating "greenback" to have more money in circulation. (Fun fact: this is the first time the United States has had a single, common currency.
• Drafter rioters called "Peace Democrats" or Copperheads according to their opponents. Lincoln suspended habeas corpus to deal with the rioters. (I don't think he should be allowed to suspend Habeas Corpus. I believe everyone should be able to report if their imprisonment is unlawful.) 

Here is a list of events in the South:

• Could not keep up with the economic demands, almost to the point of collapse.
• Union blockade of the ports caused the Southerners to have to depend on their own farms and factories. 
• Could not really afford the war that is happening because the products they do have are not worth much. Confederate soldiers stole weapons, supplies, and food from Union soldiers.
• There is an inflation due to the value of the Confederate's money. The inflation has led to some riots already.
• The leaders of the South have been arguing about where the troops should go and just how independent they should be.

Both the Union and the Confederacy are facing problems that have to do with created an economy separate from each other. The United States was able to have a working economy because it had both the factories in the North and the farms in the South. Now the North doesn't have the farms it needs to produce its products, and the South does not have the ability to take its produce into products. Here is a photo of a five dollar greenback:

That's all for now Diary,

Rebecca

Five Greenback. N.d. Web. 14 Feb. 2016. <http://www.moaf

      .org/exhibits/checks_balances/abraham-lincoln/greenb

      ack/_res/id=Picture>.

Emancipation Proclamation and 54th Massachusetts Regiment

Dear Diary,
Yesterday on September 22, 1862, Lincoln announced the Emancipation Proclamation. The proclamation is a military decree that states that all enslaved people in states that are still rebelling after January 1st, 1863 will be considered free. The proclamation does not apply to states that are already under the Union's control. I think Lincoln think that this will force more states to want to rethink joining the confederacy to protect their rights to slaves. If they rejoin the Union then they will be allowed to keep their slaves. This should be a huge turning point in the war. This might give the Union more of an advantage then they already had. I believe this is a great idea and hope that it works as well as I think it will. This is a major turning point in the war because this will cause a lot of the slaves in the South to want to help the North.Here is a photo of the proclamation:

That's all for now Diary,

Rebecca

Emancipation Proclamation. N.d. Web. 12 Feb. 2016. 

       <http://www.librarycompany.org/steptowardfree

       dom/images/section123/1-2-xam1862unistapres

       -5792-f-30b.jpg>.

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Dear Diary,

After President Lincoln announced the Emancipation Proclamation, the Union started to actively recruit black troops. There is now an all black regiment called the 54th Massachusetts Regiment. Even though there are still people who are racist in the military, the blacks have been fighting better then expected. The 54th has earned respect for their bravery and courage. These men have overcome their unequal treatment and found something to fight for. These black men ave served the Union throughout many battles. Almost 70,000 have lost their lives serving this country. I am very happy with the way the 54th is being respected nowadays. Here is a photo of the 54th Massachusetts Regiment:

That's all for now Diary,

Rebecca

54th Massachusetts Regiment. N.d. Web. 12 Feb. 2016. 

         <http://www.newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/wp

         -content/uploads/2014/01/54th-massachusetts-p

         osing.jpg>.

Battle of Antietam

Dear Diary,
I have recently learned about the Battle of Antietam. This is said to be the bloodiest battle yet. According to what I learned from my husband, General Lee was over confident and decided that he should try to get a victory on Union soil to get European powers to recognize the Confederacy. He tried to get the people in Maryland to ally with the South. The people of Maryland were not as interested in allying with the South than Lee had expected. Union soldiers found a copy of General Lee's battle plans at an abandoned rebel campsite. The Union soldiers now had the knowledge to help them with the battle. Union soldiers attacked in three stages. At the end of the battle more than 23,000 soldiers were dead or wounded. Although the Union lost more soldiers then the Confederacy, the Battle of Antietam is considered a Union victory. This was the victory that gave Lincoln what he needed to move forward with the emancipation. Here is a map of the Battle of Antietam:

That's all for now Diary,

Rebecca

Battle of Antietam. N.d. Wikimedia. Web. 10 Feb. 2016. 

      <https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons

      /1/1b/Antietam_Overview.png>.

Battle of Bull Run

Dear Diary,
A lot has been happening lately. Just recently there was a battle at a creek near Manassas, Virginia.  There were more than 30,000 Union troops along with General Scott and General McDowell. At the beginning of the battle, it looked like the Union troops were going to win. Sadly, General Thomas J. Jackson of the Confederate army won. The win earned him the nickname Stonewall Jackson. This battle has made people realize the war will not be over as fast as they thought. Lincoln ended up replacing General McDowell with General McClellan and calling for more troops. This battle makes me worry more about how much the South's mental advantage with trying to protect their lifestyle will affect how they fight. I can no longer think that this war will be over before anything major happens. It now seems as though the war will affect quite a bit more then I originally expected. Here is a map of the Battle of Bull Run:

That's all for now Diary,

Rebecca

Battle of Bull Run. N.d. Wikimedia. Web. 10 Feb. 2016. 

       <https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons

       /b/b1/First_Bull_Run_July21_1600.png>.

Advantages of Both Sides

Dear Diary,
I have been thinking about this war a lot lately. I have been collecting information about it from everyone I can. So I decided I would create a list of advantages of each side. I hope the North wins this. I think the best way to predict who wins would be to see this comparison.

Northern Advantages:

• Bigger population in the North. (2.5 to 1)
• More railroad track (2.4 to 1)
• More wheat (4.2 to 1)
• More merchant ships (9 to 1)
• More naval ships (25 to 1)
• Higher iron production (15 to 1)
• Higher firearm production (32 to 1)

Southern Advantages:

• Robert E Lee to lead them.
• Higher cotton production (1 to 24)
• They are on the defensive side, not offense.
• Fighting on their own land
• Mentally have more to fight for

Based on these statistics, I believe the north has a greater advantage then the south in this war. The north can use their navy to block of supplies from the south like what General Scott wanted in the Amaconda plan. The North has a greater advantage because it has more of what it needs to survive this war then the South does. Here is a picture of cartoon version of the Anaconda plan:

That's all for now Diary,

Rebecca

 Anaconda Plan. N.d. Web. 8 Feb. 2016. <https://upload.wikimedia.org/

           wikipedia/commons/b/bc/Scott-anaconda.jpg>.