Thread: Eastern vs. Western Theater in the American Civil War?

With Sherman distracted in front of Atlanta and Grant held up by the St Petersburg trenches (Burnside finds a way to lose again at the extraordinary Battle of the Crater), Lincoln stubbornly resisted all this pressure to negotiate peace with the Rebels, and the Princeton professor flatly concludes:

If the election had been held in August 1864 instead of November, Lincoln would have lost.

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Gee, in all of my graduate work, I never realized that Grant was fighting in Florida!!!!) ) ) )

I believe you mean Petersburg, VA. And in many ways Burnside was the scapegoat. I am a great admirer of Sam Grant but Burnside never received the support his plan deserved.

SIDE NOTE: What is often lost on a lot of people are the 2 main reasons for the difficult time which the Union faced outside of Petersburg in 1864 - 1864. The following chart shows manpower comparison between the 2 sides from begining to end of the campaign.

Date: Federal Confederate Ratio

June, 1864 96,076 55,350 1.74 - 1
July, 1864 89,049 57,528 1.55 - 1
August, 1864 51,142 48,501 1.05 - 1
September, 1864 71,504 45,563 1.57 - 1
October, 1864 77,302 54,651 1.41 - 1
November, 1864 81,922 58,287 1.41 - 1
December, 1864 95,131 59,171 1.61 - 1
January, 1865 100,429 45,829 2.19 - 1
February, 1865 106,286 47,197 2.25 - 1
March, 1865 97,185 --------
Average 86,603 52,453 1.65 - 1

Additioanlly, all through the summer of 1864 the Army fo the Potomac was hemorrhaging manpower due to 3 year enlistments running out. Soldiers who knew that had just days left on their enlistments were loath to attack fixed defenses. Same was true in a lot of units in Sherman's Army. By October there were new regiments in place as well as Veteran Volunteer regiemtns doing the fighting.


And yes, if the election was in AUG of 64 it would have been rough on Lincoln. But by the end of OCT 64, with Atlanta in Union hands and a crushing Union victory at Cedar Creek Lincoln's victory was secured. McClellan was repudiated at the polls by, of all people, the soldiers of the Union Army. They overwhelmingly voted for Lincoln, i.e., they wanted to finish what they had started.

Little Mac really did not stand a chance once the successes of the Fall of 64 started to roll in.


Oh, and as for which was the most important theater? Depends on whcih phase fo the war. Up through teh Emancipation Proclamation, the Eastern theater was the critical theater since the Union had to hold on and win on the diplomatic front by forestalling a recognition of the Confederacy by the European powers. In 1863 the impetus switched to the West with the criticality of opening and securing the MIssissippi. All campaigns west of the Apps supported that. In the east is was just hold on. By 1864 it had switched initially to the East with the plan to destroy Lee but it then became of equal importance with the taking of Atlanta (which was still considered a western campaign), the Valley Campaign and the destruction of the Army of Tennessee at Nashville.

Originally Posted by Albany Rifles

Gee, in all of my graduate work, I never realized that Grant was fighting in Florida!!!!) ) ) )

I believe you mean Petersburg, VA.

Let's give Clakers some credit. How many Aussi's are up on our Civil War? At least there's no confusion about Grant being in Russia.

And yes, if the election was in AUG of 64 it would have been rough on Lincoln.

That's a good neutral viewpoint. I second it.

But by the end of OCT 64, with Atlanta in Union hands and a crushing Union victory at Cedar Creek Lincoln's victory was secured.

Having recently read an exhaustive, blow-by-blow book devoted to the last battle of Winchester and Cedar Creek, which I am sure you'll agree are very much sister battles. With Cedar Creek coming on the heels of the Early's loss at Winchester, I wonder which is more decisive in terms of the Uniion finally gaining control of the Shenandoah. It seems to me that the brilliant, nearly successful, but ultimately disasterous attack on Union forces at Cedar Creek, would not have gained the south much except a month or so of time. Which battle do you think gets credit as the decisive of the two?

BTW, I live 4 miles from Cedar Creek battlefield. Just north of it is Middletown where the Confederate forces paused just long enough for Sheridan's forces to pull together a successful defensive position. The town is much as it was back then. [/QUOTE]