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The South lacked many important production facilities and depended on trade from Britain, France, and others. Therefore the United States placed and maintained a blockade to prevent the south from receiving these supplies. This would devastate the south and decrease the length of the war. Another disadvantage to the south is the possibility of the 3.6 million slaves turning their backs on the south and taking up arms. The slaves had great reasons for turning on the south and helping the north.

Following the bloodless battle of Fort Sumter on April 12th was the 1st Battle of Bull Run. This was the first major battle in the war and the first battle in which both sides suffered casualties. 3 On July 16, 1861, the untried Union army under Brig. Gen. Irvin McDowell marched from Washington against the Confederate army, which was drawn up behind Bull Run beyond Centreville. On the 21st, McDowell crossed at Sudley Ford and attacked the Confederate left flank on Matthews Hill. Fighting raged throughout the day as Confederate forces were driven back to Henry Hill. Late in the afternoon, Confederate reinforcements (one brigade arriving by rail from the Shenandoah Valley) extended and broke the Union right flank. The Federal retreat rapidly deteriorated into a rout. Although victorious, Confederate forces were too disorganized to pursue. Confederate Gen. Bee and Col. Bartow were killed. Thomas J. Jackson earned the nom de guerre "Stonewall."

By July 22, the shattered Union army reached the safety of Washington (civilwar.com). This battle caused both sides to realize that this war was indeed a real war and wouldn't just disappear as conveniently as one might conclude. Following the 1st Battle of Bull Run was called the battle of Shiloh. The battle of Shiloh proved to be a worthy second battle in the War Between the States. As a result of the fall of Forts Henry and Donelson, Confederate Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston, the commander in the area, was forced to fall back, giving up Kentucky and much of West and Middle Tennessee. He chose Corinth, Mississippi, a major transportation center, as the staging area for an offensive against Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and his Army of the Tennessee before the Army of the Ohio, under Maj. Gen. Don Carlos Buell, could join it. The Confederate retrenchment was a surprise, although a pleasant one, to the Union forces, and it took Grant, with about 40,000 men, some time to mount a southern offensive, along the Tennessee River, toward Pittsburg Landing. Grant received orders to await Buell's Army of the Ohio at Pittsburg Landing. Grant did not choose to fortify his position; rather, he set about drilling his men many of which were raw recruits.

Johnston originally planned to attack Grant on April 4, but delays postponed it until the 6th. Attacking the Union troops on the morning of the 6th, the Confederates surprised them, routing many. Some Federals made determined stands and by afternoon, they had established a battle line at the sunken road, known as the "Hornets Nest." Repeated Rebel attacks failed to carry the Hornets Nest, but massed artillery helped to turn the tide as Confederates surrounded the Union troops and captured, killed, or wounded most...

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