Military Strategy and Leadership
This early‑war Union general rebuilt the Army of the Potomac but was criticized for refusing to use it aggressively.
Who is George McClellan?
This side had 22 million people, compared to the other’s 9 million.
The Union
This British prime minister believed intervention might risk losing Canada and harming British investments.
Lord Palmerston
This new infantry weapon, accurate up to 600 yards, made defensive warfare far more deadly.
Rifle-Musket
This July 1861 battle shattered hopes of a quick war after a Union defeat near Washington.
First Manassas (Bull Run)
This 1861 Union plan aimed to squeeze the Confederacy through blockade and control of the Mississippi River.
What is the Anaconda Plan?
This 1863 law allowed the Union to draft able‑bodied men aged 20–45.
What is the Union Conscription Act
This 1861 incident nearly brought Britain into the war after a Union captain removed Confederate envoys from a British ship.
Trent Affair
This earlier weapon, accurate under 100 yards, was largely replaced by 1863.
Smoothbore Musket
This 1862 battle gave Lincoln the opportunity to issue the Emancipation Proclamation.
Antietam
This Confederate general believed that invading the North in 1863 could force Lincoln to accept Southern independence.
Who is Robert E. Lee?
This northern financial measure authorized $150 million in paper currency known as “greenbacks.”
Legal Tender Act
This European emperor favored involvement partly because of his ambitions in Mexico.
Napoleon III
This Union official opposed adopting repeating rifles early in the war, slowing technological advantage.
General Ripley
This July 1863 Union victory in Pennsylvania ended Lee’s second invasion of the North.
Gettysburg
This Union general’s victories at Vicksburg and later in the East helped turn the war into a coordinated, total campaign.
Who is Ulysses S. Grant?
This Southern export could not be effectively used as a diplomatic weapon because of the Union blockade.
Cotton
These fast, British‑built ships smuggled weapons and supplies into the Confederacy with a 75% success rate.
Blockade-Runners
This type of warfare — in which the Union slowly wore down Confederate manpower and resources — defined the later war.
War of Attrition
This city’s fall in July 1863 gave the Union full control of the Mississippi River.
Lee cited these two overwhelming factors in his farewell address as the reason the Confederacy had to surrender.
What are superior Union numbers and resources?
Historian Richard Current argued that this factor — overwhelmingly favoring the Union — made Confederate victory nearly impossible.
Disparities in resources.
This type of Confederate ship, purchased unarmed in Britain and later fitted with guns, damaged Union merchant shipping.
Commerce Raiders
This Union action which is difficult to enforce along 3,500 miles of coastline, tightened steadily and weakened the Confederacy.
Naval Blockade
This April 1865 event effectively ended the Civil War when Lee surrendered to Grant.
What is Appomattox Court House?