In January 1865, both the U.S. and Confederate Congresses were in session and most armies were in winter quarters, thus attention turned more to civil than military matters. William T. Sherman’s Federals prepared to advance into the Carolinas and the Confederates could do little to stop him. To the west, John Bell Hood’s Confederate Army of Tennessee was a small, broken force. Rumors swirled about a peace settlement as the southern economy was on the verge of collapse.
The Confederate Economy
By this year, the Confederacy had been almost completely stripped of manpower, supplies and money. Livestock and harvests were depleted, and industry was exhausted or destroyed. Blockade-runners seldom survived the Federal naval blockade, and the runners who survived often carried more profitable luxury items rather than necessities.
The Confederate currency was nearly worthless, as one dollar in gold equaled almost $60 Confederate. Soldiers were paid $17 per month, but a chicken cost $15, a pound of butter cost $25, a pair of shoes cost $125, and a barrel of flour cost $275. In addition, many southern civilians suffered from the devastation of an invading army ravaging their homeland.
The Fall of Fort Fisher
After failing to capture Fort Fisher, North Carolina in December, the Federals launched a second army-navy attack this month. The naval forces were commanded by Rear Admiral David D. Porter and the land forces were commanded by Major General Alfred H. Terry. The forces met at Beaufort, North Carolina and began their attack.
Porter launched the greatest naval bombardment in history, hitting the fort with 627 guns in 59 ships. Meanwhile, Federal boats landed on the peninsula above Fort Fisher and troops attacked the Confederate garrison. Despite repeated calls for Confederate General Braxton Bragg to send his troops to assist, Bragg refused to send them.
Federals attacked on several fronts and ultimately broke the Confederate resistance, forcing the garrison to surrender. The capture of Fort Fisher closed Wilmington, the Confederacy’s last major seaport, from foreign trade. Confederate Vice President Alexander Stephens called this "one of the greatest disasters which had befallen our cause from the beginning of the war—not excepting the loss of Vicksburg or Atlanta." The defeat at Fort Fisher shattered Confederate morale.
The Carolinas Campaign
After capturing Savannah, Georgia in December, General William T. Sherman’s Federals prepared to move north. Sherman’s ultimate objective was to advance through the Carolinas to Virginia to join General Ulysses S. Grant’s Federals in Virginia and help them defeat the Confederates at Petersburg under General Robert E. Lee.
Before moving north, Sherman issued an order granting freed slaves land that had been confiscated from plantation owners. Each black family in designated coastal regions of Georgia and South Carolina was to receive “a plot of not more than forty acres of tillable ground” and a mule. Sherman’s order was a response to War Department allegations that he was mistreating freed slaves in the South.
Meanwhile General John Bell Hood resigned as commander of the Confederate Army of Tennessee. Hood’s defeats at Franklin and Nashville at the end of the past year had effectively destroyed the army. The remnants of Hood’s command were placed under General Joseph Johnston and ordered to move into the Carolinas to try stopping Sherman. Sherman’s Federals moved north after burning Savannah, reaching South Carolina by month’s end.
The Thirteenth Amendment
President Lincoln urged the U.S. House of Representatives to approve the Thirteenth Amendment to officially abolish slavery. Lincoln knew that his Emancipation Proclamation was only a wartime measure, and a constitutional amendment was needed to permanently end the institution. The amendment had been passed in the Senate, but it failed in the House. After having been re-elected, Lincoln asked House members to reconsider.
Lincoln administration officials lobbied several House members who had initially rejected the amendment to change their vote. Many Democrats resisted because such an amendment would fundamentally change the coequal relationship between the states and the federal government. After lengthy and heated debate, enough Democrats sided with Republicans to approve the Thirteenth Amendment by the necessary two-thirds majority.
Passage of this amendment led to celebrations throughout the north and a 100-gun salute in Washington. The next step was for the states to ratify the amendment, and by December, enough states had approved to make it part of the U.S. Constitution.
Sources
- Long, E.B. and Long, Barbara: The Civil War: Day by Day (New York, NY: Da Capo Press, Inc., 1971)
- Wallechinsky, David and Wallace, Irving: The People’s Almanac (Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Co., Inc., 1975)
- Ward, Geoffrey C.; Burns, Ric; Burns, Ken: The Civil War (New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1990)
Walter Coffey - Walter Coffey is a freelance writer who resides in Houston, Texas. Walter has written several works of historical fiction and non-fiction, ...
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