Chronological History of the American Civil War

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military control by that point in the war. Further exemptions were extended to the counties that would soon become West Virginia. For all the positive gains the Emancipation Proclamation made in the cause of human liberty, it did not, in fact, end slavery in the United States. It only declared free slaves in states where the Union government held no sway. In practice, it did very little. Exemptions had initially left nearly 300,000 slaves in bondage in Union-controlled states and counties. The end of slavery would not come until the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution on December 6, 1865. At the time of its ratification, slavery still existed in Delaware and Kentucky. In fact, those two states would not ratify the amendment until 1901 and 1976, respectively. West Virginia, too, still had legalized slavery. The amendment took effect on December 18, 1865, finally making slavery illegal everywhere in the United States. And setting the stage for the grand failure that was Reconstruction … but that’s another story. An Original American A few facts you might not know about the Great American Civil War. In April 1865, when Robert E. Lee surrenders at Appomattox Courthouse, Virginia, there was one man he was surprised to see. At first Lee thought it was a black man, then he realized it was an Indian. Lee said, “I am glad to see one real American here.” The man was Ely Parker, (pictured) born Hasanoanda, a sachem (or high chief) of the

Seneca nation. Parker shook Lee’s hand and replied, “We are all Americans, sir.” Ely had a classical education at a missionary school, received a law degree from college, but not permitted to take the bar exam, since as a Seneca, he was not considered a United States citizen at that time. It was not until 1924 that all American Indians were considered citizens. Parker also studied as an engineer and became a tribal diplomat. He was commissioned a lieutenant colonel during the American Civil War, when he served as adjutant to General Ulysses S. Grant. In Grant’s staff, he was known for his fine handwriting and law knowledge. Those skills were put to task as he not only helped draft Lee’s letters of surrender, but personally penned the formal copies. He wrote the final

draft of the Confederate surrender terms at Appomattox. Later in his career, Parker rose to the rank of Brevet Brigadier General, one of only two Native Americans to earn a general’s rank during the war (the other being Stand Watie, a Cherokee who fought for the Confederacy). President Grant appointed him as Commissioner of Indian Affairs, the first Native American to hold that post. Naval Blockade Ultimately Dooms the Confederacy A few facts you might not know about the Great American Civil War. At the start of the war, the value of all manufactured goods produced in all the Confederate states added up to less than one-fourth of those produced in New York State alone. The South depended far too much on imports of goods. Winfield Scott, brevet lieutenant-general in command of the entire Federal army, presented Abraham Lincoln with a grand strategy for the war shortly before the Battle of Bull Run. The “Anaconda Plan” called for a stiff blockade of Southern seaports in conjunction with an amphibious advance along the line of the Mississippi River. These operations would strangle the Confederate economy, based so heavily on the international cotton trade, and split the rebellious nation apart. Although the slow and relentless squeeze of the plan was discredited by critics who thought the conflict would be over in a matter of months, Lincoln stuck by Scott’s blueprint throughout what was looking like an endless war. Scott’s Anaconda Plan calls for blockade roughly 3,000 miles in length. This was far beyond what the navy was able to provide. At the start of the Civil War, the Federal navy was composed of around ninety ships, only around forty of which were close to combat-capable. Old ships were filled with stones and sunk in blocking positions around Southern harbors to buy time for the engineers rushing to lay down a new fleet of warships. Hundreds of civilian ships were pressed into service as well. By 1865, the Union navy grew 600% to comprise more than six hundred ships and become the largest naval fleet in the world at the time.