To clarify the best friends remark. General Grant was an Alcoholic and general Sherman suffered depression. A quote from General Sherman was “Grant stood by me when I was crazy, and I stood by him when he was drunk, and now we stand by each other.”
@@donaldstewart8342Grant most certainly was an alcoholic. It didn’t affect his campaign as much as Lost Causers like to think it did, but he certainly drank heavily when he wasn’t on campaign
The part I find most crazy about the Civil War is that the whole thing started and ended with Wilmer McLean. Had a cannon shot into his dining room in the first battle of the war, then years later the war ended in the dining room of his new house. Love stories like that
I have another one for you…. I used to visit Sherman’s grave in St. Louis. Just down the hill from his grave is Dred Scott’s grave (the slave that sued for his freedom. So, within sight of each other is the beginning of the civil war and the man who put an end to it. (People leave pennies on Dred Scott’s tombstone, because Lincoln is on the penny)
"Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth, on this continent, a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived, and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting-place for those who here gave their lives, that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate-we cannot hallow-this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us-that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they here gave the last full measure of devotion-that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain-that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."
It's amazing how short the speech actually is. He likely spoke for 3-4 minutes. By modern standards, he'd be roasted for not using long, flowing language for an hour. But he got right to the point and said exactly what he needed to say.
I don’t know what the current practice is, but I’m almost 70 years old, and back in my high school days we memorized the Gettysburg Address. It is short but powerful. I believe Lincoln wrote it on the train from Washington to Pennsylvania.
Because of this war Abraham Lincoln was so sadly assassinated by a Southern sympathizer whilst attending a play. Can't believe the way his life ended for all the good he did. And the fact that during the war his son came down with an illness and died, his leadership never wavered despite the immense pain he felt. Great man. 🙏
And you need to remember too, that Lincoln's plan for reunification was actually kinder to the South than what ended up happening without him. So Booth not only assassinated a great man, he also hurt his own cause. It's a terrible moment in history.
The “cruel yet highly skilled cavalry General” comment was referring to Nathaniel Bedford Forest. He was one of the best, if not the best, cavalry officers in the Confederate Army. However, he is most infamously known for being the first Grand Wizard of the KKK, as well as the orchestrator of the Fort Pillow Massacre where he and his troops slaughtered large numbers of Union prisoners of war, most of which were African American soldiers. Love the channel, Kabir! Keep up the great work, man.
@@boki1693 IIRC, in the film , Gump was simply named after him; I don't recall them being mentioned as related. If I am wrong, I apologize but I believe I'm correct on this one.
The Fort Pillow incident is actually widely debated by historians. The issue was that as some troops were trying to surrender, other Union troops continued to fire at the Confederates, and there was confusion as to what was going on. It is possible that some people known to be prisoners were intentionally killed, but it is generally thought that he wasn't aware of it and didn't order it. The matter is one of the many nuanced and debates issues from the war.
21:40 one of the more interesting things that happened during Sherman’s March to the Sea was how General Sherman used his reputation for being merciless to get results. One of the new technologies the Confederates used to try and stop Sherman were early land mines (called “torpedoes” back then). To deal with these mines, Sherman used captured confederate soldiers to clear them off the roads, allegedly telling one of these prisoners “if you get blown up, I don’t care.” However, Sherman was careful to allow at least one of these captured confederate soldiers to escape, knowing he’d tell his superiors what the other prisoners are being forced to do. Soon enough, Sherman and his troops stopped encountering land mines.
When my son was 12yrs old he told me that Abraham Lincoln was his hero/idol... we went to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania and toured the battlefields. I am proud to say that my son looked up to a man, who lived over a century before he was born, was his hero for what he stood for. The world needs more kids to have heros that stand for goodness and honesty... maybe our world would them emulate those same traits to one another!
Lincoln's speech at Gettysburg had a lot of things that were different to others. First, he was not the noted speaker (as they said here), it was Edwin Everett of Massachusetts, who spoke for two hours. Lincoln was invited almost as an afterthought and asked to make some "appropriate remarks", but there was no mention of "brief". When he stood up, people kind of hunkered down in their seats because they expected him to go on for awhile. Instead, he spoke for only two minutes, a total of 272 words. When he sat down people were confused and so he only got a little applause, but some reporters called his remarks the equivalent of "dishwater", meaning they weren't up to the level they should have been and were quite bland and such. HOWEVER, Everett, the guy who spoke for two hours, wrote to the president later on to congratulate him on such an incredible speech. He said "you were able to do in two minutes what I was unable to do in two hours.", basically saying Lincoln understood the war better than anyone and was able to convey the meaning of the war because of that understanding. There's a bunch more I could talk about from this video, but I'll also just mention that the photo of his funeral parade in New York (with the house in the background) is incredible. Why? Because if you look at the 2nd floor (the 1st floor for you in the UK and other places) windows on the side of the house, you will see two small faces. The house was owned by Theodore Roosevelt Sr., which means the two faces in the window are Theodore Jr. and his brother. Theodore Jr. would go on to become the 25th or 26th President of the United States. It's one of the only pieces of media that shows a current/former president with a future one as a child or young man. The only other one I know of is the video of Bill Clinton meeting JFK when he was like 15 or 16.
Fun fact about Clara Barton she would later go on to establish the Red Cross. Also you should check out Abraham Lincoln‘s second inaugural address it’s very touching
Kabir you spoke of the "humanity" of the opposing sides - just being "people" - it goes deeper - in many cases they were quite literally "family members" - brothers fighting brothers, cousins fighting cousins. One of the tragedies of a "civil war".
If you go back far enough, we are all family. Far removed, but still family. We need to see the human race as one human family if we ever want to abandon the barbaric practice of war and crime.
@@kabirconsiders You can see some of that here at Gettysburg when on Culps Hill two regiments BOTH from Maryland fought against each other. The Confederate 1st Maryland Battalion Infantry of Brig. Gen. George H. Steuart's Brigade of Johnson's Division of Early's II Corps came face to face at ranges of 30 yds. against the Unions 1st Maryland, Potomac Home Brigade of Brig. Gen. Henry H. Lockwood and part of Brig. Gen. Alpheus S. Williams's 1st Division, Slocum's XII Corps. After the battle someone had said describing the fight between the two Maryland groups "Ah! it was a sad, sad day that brought sorrow to many a poor Maryland mother's heart"
@@xJamesLaughxAn even crazier story about Culp’s Hill is that one of the Confederate soldiers who died trying to take it was named Wesley Culp. He had been born in Gettysburg but later moved to Virginia, and a relative of his (Henry Culp) owned the hill he later died on.
Two more examples of that I can think of are two brother-in-laws who commanded the brigades that fought each other for the bridge over the Antietam, and a southern-born Union naval captain who bombarded a Confederate fort that was commanded by his brother.
Many towns named after a European city, likely had numerous immigrants/settlers from that Country. Ex: My Grandma came from Arendal Norway and her parents settled in Arendal Minnesota where many immigrant Norwegians lived.
They actually mentioned in the video that the assassin was tracked by Union cavalry to a barn, where he was shot. He never actually made it to trial. Additionally, several other people who were thought to have conspired with him were executed by the military without a proper trial (including a woman who likely had nothing more to do with it than owning the boarding house where the conspirators met). In fact, the government executing civilians without civilian trials were found unconstitutional after the war, one of the many results of the conflict.
I remember in school back in the sixties, the nun taught us the Union Calvary encircled the barn he entered, gave him one chance to come out and then opened fire on the barn with pistols, rifles and gatling guns and didn't stop until ammunition ran low. Of course I don't know how true that was but it sounded really cool as a kid.
@@sld1776 It doesn't seem she was part of the conspiracy, though it is quite possible she knew of the conspiracy. Either way, it was never proven, and she wasn't given a fair trial, which makes it really hard to evaluate.
The story of the man that shot Boothe, Boston Corbett, is worth checking out on its own. Corbett was absolutely insane, due to the fact he worked with mercury as a hatter. He became devoutly religious and decided to cut off his testicles with scissors after being aroused by a prostitutes. Before seeking immediate medical attention though, he decided to have dinner and then go for a stroll. He later enlisted, but refused every order from his superiors bc he only listened to God and was punished repeatedly, but eventually the officers gave up mostly bc he was so annoying. In one battle, his entire unit surrendered to the confederates but he kept on fighting by himself until he ran out of ammo thus earning the respect of the enemy. He survived Andersonville prison and re-enlisted and served in the unit that tracked down Boothe. The rest of his story is equally as crazy. The dollop podcast has a legendary episode about him.
Grant was an excellent strategist. Always thinking a few steps ahead. And a man of excellent character. HIs father in law gave him a slave, and despite being absolutely poor at the time, he freed his slave even though he could've gotten a lot from it. He treated the southern people extremely well, paroling the entire of Lee's army. Telling them to just go home. Some stuff oversimplified says about Grant was incorrect. Grant never drank during a campaign. He had alcohol problems, but it was pretty well known he would never drink during anything important. The union men at the battle of gettysburg yelled out "Fredericksburg Fredericksburg Fredericksburg" as the confederates charged at them because it was pretty much a similar situation. General Longstreet tried to persuade Lee from attacking at Gettysburg numerous times because the ground was awful to attack. And attempted to persuade lee from the central assault. Also 20th maine is well known at gettysburg but people who also deserve credit are the 1st minnesota. With the union center left broken, the lines were reforming. However a ton of confederate troops were advancing and threatened to cut the union line in half. The 1st MInnesota was told to go take the colours of the confederates (basically charge them). They suffered 80% casualties but brought enough time for the union to reform. Saved the day at Gettysburg At the battle of Fredericksburg George Meade actually performed extremely well breaking General Jackson's line. However without support from other union men, he couldn't do much else.
Grant caused a rift with his in-laws when he left a family picnic early because he couldn’t stand watching their slaves toiling in front of them. He picked up a hoe and joined them in their work
One of the survivors of the 1st Minnesota actually did capture Virginia's Flag the next day, Private Marshall Sherman who was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions during Gettysburg. Not only did the Virginia lose their flag that day but the Minnesota 1st flag holder straight up refused to abandon their own flag even after multiple severe wounds. From the wiki "After being knocked out by a bullet to the head and later shot in the hand, Corporal Henry D. O'Brien repeatedly picked up the fallen colors of the 1st Minnesota and carried a wounded comrade back to the Union lines. He was also awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroism". Various Minnesota governors have responded to Virginia's requests to give the flag to them. In 2000 Governor Ventura responded “Why? We won. … We took it. That makes it our heritage.”. Former Governor Tim Pawlenty turned the Virginians down in 2003 quote “They’re not getting it. … We believe it’s rightfully ours, and we’re not giving it back to Virginia.”. Former Gov. Mark Dayton also turned them down in 2013 when they wanted it "loaned" to them with the most succinct and perfect response " The governor of Virginia earlier this year requested that the flag be loaned, quote, unquote, to Virginia to commemorate -- it doesn't quite strike me as something they would want to commemorate, but we declined that invitation." "We declined that invitation... It was taken in a battle with the cost of the blood of all these Minnesotans. It would be a sacrilege to return it to them. It’s something that was earned through the incredible courage and valor of the men who gave their lives and risked their lives to obtain it,” “As far as I’m concerned it is a closed subject.”
@William Sherman I used to feel the same way, but his Vicksburg campaign is just a masterpiece. Also the throwing tons of men at Lees army was grants entire plan. He needed to keep on the offense constantly, because with the other invasions into the south at different points, he could not allow Lee to send any men there. He didn't give Lee and breathing room. And Grant understood this. At the battle of chicamagua Lee send longstreet Corp to Braggs army which almost lead to the army of the Cumberland bring completely destroyed if not for george Thomas.
Steven Spielberg's 2012 movie "Lincoln" is a beautiful and powerfully-acted representation of some of these events. People interested in this should check it out. So many goosebumps moments.
My parents and I went to Washington D.C and we got to see the Lincoln Memorial. And we saw his statue with the throne. The pictures don't do it justice, it is absolutely massive. I was soo giddy, I am a big history nerd, so to actually go to my first visit to a historical place was awe inspiring. I felt so tiny being next to the statue and knowing the history of what the man did. For me, when I was there, I felt like I was being challenged, like he did all these things, now what are going to do?
When I discovered "Over Simplified" I literally sat down and just binged all day. It is amazing how much information he crams into a 30 minute video. And somehow he tells it in a way that makes you retain the information. The Nepoleanic Wars was incredible. I feel like I learned more in 2 small videos than I did in 13 years of public education
He is right! The fight for civil rights was NOT over. While amendments for citizenship and voting rights were passed, Jim Crow laws ruled much of the South for the next 100 years. Yes, the war was over, but there was still fighting to do. Even today there are still places around my hometown where the old “sundown town laws” are quietly enforced by locals. Laws have changed, but unfortunately, it is harder to change minds. It IS happening though!
@William Sherman Incorrect. We're a country of immigrants and depend on immigrant labor for our economic advancement, but that doesn't mean we aren't racist. Every immigrant group has faced racism, and unfortunately it's still a problem, especially in the South (but not limited to the South).
What's really sad was that the first elections right after the war actually saw black men elected into office. Then everything was reverted with Jim Crow laws. I think if Lincoln had lived things could have been different, he would've rebuilt the South, and the angry people post-war wouldn't have had an audience looking for someone to tell them who to blame for their troubles. We might have been a hundred years ahead of where we are now, instead of only getting started in the 1960s. Boothe is probably the worst villain in the history of our country considering the impact of his actions.
@@Alex-dh2cx This is very true. "Finding Your Roots" with Henry Louis Gates is a tv show that touches on this. You're right that it's quite sad, after initial gains.
Washington owned several hundred slaves, and he supported measures passed by Congress to protect slavery. Starting in 1778, he became troubled with the institution of slavery and freed William Lee, one of his slaves, in his will. He freed the other 123 slaves that he owned upon the death of his wife, Martha Washington. She decided to respect her husband's wishes and freed these slaves on January 1, 1801, before her death.
22:54 when the war began, confederate President Jefferson Davis was largely respected by the southern populace. By now, they were just plain sick of him. Davis had become increasingly draconian as the war dragged on, and he had an aversion to delivering speeches to the confederate lower and middles classes (he only did this twice during the war, while Lincoln delivered speeches to these groups of people in the north consistently). On top of that, Davis was starting to be seen as a man out of touch with reality. When Grant finally defeated Lee at Petersburg, Davis was in church attending the Sunday service. The sermon was interrupted when a boy, not much older than ten, barefoot, exhausted, and wearing the tattered remains of a confederate army uniform, burst through the doors of the church and delivered a note the the confederate president. The note was unsigned, but Davis recognized the handwriting as Lee’s, and it had only one sentence: “my lines are broken in three places, the capital must be evacuated tonight”. While the other confederate leaders were horrified, Davis (possibly trying to keep morale up) insisted that this was a minor setback and that he’d “temporarily” relocate the confederate capital to Danville, about 144 miles southwest of Richmond. Not long afterwards, when he was forced to flee Danville, Davis took a number of troops with him and, while fleeing, did what he called “conducting government by the highway,” signing bills into law and reviewing policy decisions as though nothing had changed. While he might have been doing this to keep morale up, all Davis did was convince most of the remaining confederates that he was delusional. In my opinion, Jefferson Davis never did anything worthy of respect. The only reason why anyone in the south today respects him is because he wrote books and gave speeches about his time as head of the confederate government after he got out of prison. Many older southerners, who remembered having to live under Davis, didn’t buy into his post-prison PR campaign. Unfortunately, the younger generations of southerners did.
There's a movie called Glory with Matthew Broderick, Denzel Washington, Morgan Freeman, about black Union soldiers in the Civil War. You should check it out.
A bit of trivia you might enjoy: when Sherman's boys entered Columbia, South Carolina, a few of them entered the State House and held a vote to repeal secession. And then they set fire to the city, because that's what Sherman's march was. If you're genuinely interested in this stuff, you might want to check out Atun-Shei's Checkmate, Lincolnites series. He does a great job of presenting history in an amusing way like Oversimplified, but goes into more detail. There's a whole video on Sherman you might want to react to.
If you ever see a larger version of that photo of Lincoln’s funeral as it passed through New York City that was used in the video, check out the irl Easter Egg in it. It was confirmed recently that if you look in the windows facing the camera of that building in the back left side of the picture, in that second story window you can see a then 6 year old Theodore Roosevelt (Future 26th President) watching the procession go by. Btw love the content, highly recommend you check out something on Teddy Roosevelt, the guy was the most stereotypical American to be the American President and actually did some really good stuff in his day.
Just a point of clarification on the Constitutional amendment to banish slavery. It didn't actually banish it 100%. It left an exception for convicts in prison. And that is true to this day.
@@MrTommygunz420 How so? You really think prosecutors and judges are putting more people in prison simply because making them slaves isn't unconstitutional? I don't see it myself. I think we have more people in prison because we have more laws and less firing squads than any other country on Earth.
@@MrTommygunz420 We have the highest incarceration rate mostly because of the failed Drug War, which is just "Prohibition 2.0." (I don't understand how it took us less than 15 years to admit the first Prohibition was a failure, but we still cannot admit the more than 80-year-old Drug War is a failure.) Other reasons we have so many in prison include being a semi-fascist country that bans vices, employing in our criminal justice system far too many sadists who believe committing a crime abrogates one's constitutional rights, not caring about rehabilitation of non-violent offenders, and making it extremely difficult for ex-convicts to find employment at a living wage.
Good point. I'm not sure that it's relevant, but for much of American history states and counties throughout the U.S. had laws which explicitly targeted blacks for arrest on "crimes" such as vagrancy. Aside from racial hysteria, the rationale for such "Black Code" laws was to provide free manual labor for farms, road crews, and various businesses. Like most abominations concerning blacks, this was a nationwide practice but concentrated in the South.
@Boe Jiden You seem to be suggesting that committing a serious crime makes a person an inferior species of animal, unworthy of constitutional rights. The sole reason we have the Bill of Rights is to protect the rights of those groups of people who are disliked by the majority of voters, and that includes those who commit a crime.
The movie Gettysburg has one of the most chilling lines ever delivered after Pickett's charge (the final one where they get decimated) Lee: General, I want you to reform your men and set up a defensive line. I do fear they may attack. Pickett: ... Lee: General Picket, you must look to your division. Pickett: General Lee...I have no division. Indeed, pickett's command suffered the hardest, losing roughly 3/4 of his troops and about half his officers killed, wounded or captured...
I think this may actually be based on a real conversation... or at least an apocryphal one. My history professor told it as "General Pickett, where is your division?" "General Lee sir, I have no division."
Hey Kabir, you talked a lot about McClellan here who often becomes a bit of a historical whipping boy with at least some justification. However what they didn't cover here are a few things that I think are important to remember for context. The first was that he was primarily responsible for transforming the Union army into a professional force capable of achieving its mission by raising training standards, instilling a sense of unit pride, and generally giving them the feeling that their lives wouldn't be thrown away to no effect. Next was that from the moment he was appointed there were elements in the US government who worked to undermine him because he was a Democrat. This manifested with the Star Councils and being called before that congressional committee on several occasions. Early on he and Lincoln had a very cordial relationship where McClellan is actually reported to have helped Lincoln develop a basic understanding of military strategy and the logistical practicalities and Lincoln promised to help him deal with the political backbiting. He felt this promise wasn't kept and felt hard done by.... so when he was urged forward he felt 'they're setting me up to lose just so they can take the army away and to hell with the country.' His private letters reveal shocking narcissism (not uncommon in generals) but also a belief that the fate of war hinged on him not leading the army into a military debacle. Additionally he was fed terrible, awful intelligence that drastically inflated the numbers he was facing that came from sources (with hide sight mistakenly) trusted far more than the people in Washington who he thought were out to get him; so he did legitimately believe he was outnumbered. McClellan was clearly not a match for Lee (except perhaps in terms of siege warfare/engineering-) But until Grant and Meade no other General proved able to avoid outright disaster, let alone achieve victory against Lee in the East even while vastly outnumbering the enemy. His caution prevented him from achieving several successes but it also prevented him from being pulled into situations that caused other Union Generals to be caught out. And how he was dealt with behind the scenes further contributed to future Generals favoring immediate action over sound judgement (such as Fredericksburg). It's very easy to 'monday morning qb' it with perfect knowledge, but none of the available generals who could've been picked during that early war time period showed any reason to think they'd have been more successful than say Burnside, Hooker, Pope, 'Commissary' Banks or McDowell were. And the Union probably wouldn't have survived a series of Fredericksburgs and Chancellorsvilles during that time period.
The Gettysburg Address recited by Jeff Daniels is the version you want to watch. He does a fantastic rendition. I look forward to seeing your reaction to it. It is a short but probably the most famous speech in American history.
Also he should watch the gettysburg movie, the fact that it was filmed on site and they even used re enactors that do it all the time makes it even more realistic
The pillow from the boarding house where Lincoln died is still kept at Ford's Theatre. A reminder of a man who sacrificed, and actually managed to make the country a better place. He had wanted to try to heal divisions when the war was over, but after his death the government went in a different direction. I don't know if it would have made any difference if reconstruction had been handled differently, but 150 years later black Americans are still dealing with animosity and violence.
It didn't help that Lincoln was followed by Andrew Johnson, a Southern Democrat, and arguably the worst President ever. Grant followed Johnson, and while Grant meant well, his administration was full of crooks (not Grant). Essentially a lost decade after the assassination of Lincoln.
Hi Kabir... when you get around to reading the Gettysburg Address, just keep in mind that President Lincoln was there to dedicate the new military cemetery there. Keeping that in mind will make the speech make more sense to you.
Vicksburg surrendered on July 4th. The military commander was a Northerner who knew he would get thr most favorable terms on Independence Day. In Vicksburg, they didn't celebrate Independence Day again until 1945.
Nathan Bedford Forrest was widely regarded as one of the Confederacy’s best cavalry commanders. He mentioned cruel because he committed massacres killing several hundred Union soldiers that had already surrendered. He also went on to create the KKK.
I think what's severely under mentioned here is how much the soldiers loved Grant and Lee. Both of their respective army's loved them. The Union soldiers loved Grant bc they finally had a guy who wanted to win like they did, they had a guy who was willing to fight to win. While the confederate soldiers were so loyal that they would do anything for Lee. If Lee told them to jump off a cliff they would've jumped. Like Lee's army by the end had ran for days with no shoes and starved and they were willing to go farther if Lee asked them to. It's just amazing how loyal both armies were. It's also cool how smart each we're in battle tactics and strategies. Both are some of the best ever to lead an army fr.
The man who shot Lincoln: John Wilkes Booth was killed in a barn in Virginia on the property of a doctor named Mudd? Booth had sprained his ankle when he jumped from Lincoln's balcony to the stage down below. He yelled Death to the tyrant in Latin and fled on horse. Booth and his brother were both actors and his brother held the record for the most consecutive performances of Shakespeare's Hamlet. So you might say that Booth had a fatalistic dramatic obsession. He probably imagined himself in his brother's role of Hamlet. I forgot what was the scorecard for how many people died at the end of Hamlet?
You should watch a video about the history of Arlington National Cemetery, it was actually Robert E. Lee's house that the union confiscated and buried remains in the front yard.
Thank you for bringing this up. I think of this often when Arlington Cemetery is discussed. That action epitomizes the depth of the feelings at the time, that still echo through us today. They were very deliberately “salting the earth” by making Lee’s land unusable and his home uninhabitable as revenge for his actions. It’s profound.
11:35 Mark! That's the home of the "Chattanooga Choo-Choo"! There's even a popular song about it. It has been preserved as a tourist attraction. A tobacco company made some chewing tobacco that they named "Chattanooga Chew-Chew"! A store keeper once habe me an empty display box so that I could add it to my railroading collection. 🚂
19:45 the city of Atlanta was about the closest thing the Confederacy had to an industrial heartland. It had the most factories of any city in the south (second most I think was Richmond). Years earlier, southern slave-owners fought to keep factories and machines out of the south, lest people question the need for slavery. This came back to bite them, since General Sherman understood something that is obvious to modern generals but no so obvious back then: a country’s ability to win a war is more often than not determined by its ability to manufacture. Even today there are some who are still resentful towards Sherman, since much of Atlanta was burned to the ground. While we have no evidence that Sherman ordered the city burned, we do know he did relatively little to stop it. Though, to be fair, Confederate troops had already burned down multiple smaller towns in the north when they entered Union territory.
Lincoln's assassin, John Wilkes Booth, was on the run for 12 days but was tracked down hiding in a barn in northern Virginia. The video did briefly mention this. There was a shootout, the Union forces set the barn on fire to force him out, and one of the soldiers shot Booth, mortally wounding him. He died before he could be tried. Some of his alleged co-conspirators were tried and four of them later were hanged (and there is controversy around whether all of those were truly complicit to the extent that they deserved capital punishment).
Also the battle of Gettysburg happened 30 minutes from my house, school trips were pretty fun going through that battlefield. The casulity count at that battle is horrible.
Fun fact, Northern general Burnside is the namesake for the term Sideburns, and there is a folk etymology that General Hooker is the namesake for the occupation “hooker”. The latter is wrong, but still believed.
Because it is short enough. Here is the full text of the Gettysburg Address “Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”-Abraham Lincoln-Nov 19 1863
Kentuckian here. Frankfort, the State Capital and all out underwhelming city compared to that of Louisville, Lexington, or Bowling Green, was actually named after a frontiersman (Stephen Frank) who was killed in a skirmish with local native tribes at a ford (A shallow creek which can be passed freely without a boat). The name itself was "Frank's Ford," but time and misinterpretation turned it into Frankfort.
Johnston wasn’t the “cruel” General, that was Nathan Bedford Forrest. Before the war, he was a slave trader and afterwards he founded the Ku Klux Klan (KKK). There’s a lot of revisionist “historians” out there who argue that the war was about states rights, but Forrest was adamant about his racial motivations for the war. He once said, “if we ain’t fightin’ to keep slavery, then what the hell are we fightin’ for”. In addition to being an all-around piece of shit, he also was known to massacre surrendering soldiers, especially if they were black. Also, a siege isn’t a constant battle, but instead a period of non-fighting where an attacker is trying to wear down the opponent’s resolve and morale by surrounding the enemy, denying the defenders reinforcements and supplies.
I appreciate you taking an interest in learning about American history through this 😊 the American Revolution is understandable since that was a shared history between both our countries, so I appreciate you also taking the time to learn about our personal battle. I really enjoyed watching these videos with you and getting you reactions too. I'm a descendant of General Sherman and am pretty proud of it, I'm happy that you learned about him and I've learned a little more about him too as I've never done much in-depth research on him. I mentioned in a comment you saw yesterday about most of Georgia being burned in the Civil War not knowing you had watched a Civil War video already 😂 you saw Spanish Moss which Savannah, Georgia is famous for. It's been said that when Sherman reached Savannah, it was the only city he didn't burn down and destroy because of how beautiful it was. So you can still see the beautiful architecture and rows of trees with Spanish Moss lining the streets in the historic districts and River Street in the city still today. I just wanted to say again that I'd recommend checking out Savannah for a day or two if you find yourself in the South near Atlanta, or South Carolina (maybe Myrtle Beach?), or northern Florida as they're all only a few hours away. If you get the chance when you visit America.
I live in Tennessee, west Tennessee to be exact and just in west Tennessee we have Paris, Milan( pronounced MY-lan ) and Dresden. I also lived in southwest Florida were you have Venice and Naples
You absolutely must listen to the Gettysburg address. The Bixby letter and the Gettysburg address get me every time I hear them. If you wanted to do a reaction video, maybe you could listen to both since they are so short.
A couple of tidbits not mentioned in Unsimplified's video; Confederate General Robert E. Lee's estate near Washington DC was appropriated by the US Government and is now Arlington National Cemetery. Also, President Lincoln's son Robert fell off a train platform when he was about 10 years old. A bystander reached down and pulled him to safety from an onrushing train. The bystander? John Wilkes Booth's more famous older brother Edwin, one of the most famous actors of that era.
@@JPMadden The numbers I used were based on research of official reports from both the Army of the Potomac & the Army of Northern Virginia done in recent years. 23,231 killed, wounded or missing from Union forces. 27,736 killed, wounded or missing from Confederate forces A total of 58,007.
Interesting fact, what we refer it to be, the "Confederate flag" was never used as the CSA (Confederate States of America), but only as a battle flag for the state of Virginia. Which was used twice, but the Confederates used 9 different battle flag. You can see the progression of the CSA battle flag change from part 1, to part 2, to part 3 of this topic by Oversimplified. Yet, their uniforms stayed the same.
They said this in the video but they did catch John Wilkes Booth 10 days later and shot him in a barn where he was hiding. He did try to fight back, so he was shot.
Lost my grandfather Hezekiah at the Battle of Vicksburg. My ancestor was at Valley Forge for the winter. My Uncle died in France during the Omaha Beach Battle, and is buried in France. My original ancestor arrived with the original founders of Jamestown. He explored with John Smith up and down the rivers of the New World. Our histories are so entwined with Britain.
There is a very good movie about the Civil War called Gettysburg you might want to check out. I went to Gettysburg a while back and it's pretty cool touring all the famous battle sites there. Also, the sequel Gods and Generals is not as good as Gettysburg but still interesting. And there was a mini series on Ulysses S. Grant on the history channel last year that was very good and informative. He became president after Lincoln and in many ways was as important as Lincoln was because the country was still in a very fragile state after the war and he helped stabilize it. Two things about Sherman. He is probably the most hated general in the south still to this day because he was also burning down cities as he went. the other thing is The Sherman tank made famous in ww2 was named after him. I saw a movie on Lincoln's assassination and the experts in the movie said that if Lincoln were shot today with the same wound, they probably could have saved him. And the soldier that shot and killed John Wilkes booth was named Boston Corbett. Notice my last name. :) I have no idea if we are related or not but he basically went insane sometime after the shooting and I hear he cut off his private parts and tried to burn down a city or town or something like that.
You were talking about the resources and all that, theres a youtube channel that explains this perfectly, extra credits, the resource war, its about the germans resources problem in ww2 but it explains this concept perfectly, hope to see that series soon, its like 4-5 10 minute episodes.
In Springfield illinois I seen Lincoln and his family's tombs it is so sad Lincoln went threw so much pain it was never mentioned in the video but Lincoln was extremely depressed that he thought about suicide on a daily regular bases there was so many times Lincoln wanted to give up however he remained strong the American Civil War was one of three bloodiest wars in modern history 750,000 military deaths 50,000 civilian deaths and 80,000 slaves died trying to escape in total that was 880,000 Americans who died more Americans died in the civil war then any other war in history ww2 doesn't even come close
Just as a side note.....there are countless cities and towns through out the US that have the same name as other places in the world. If you were take a glance at town through out New England....well you'll recognize a large large chunk of names. and Frankfort Kentucky is named after Frank Ford (it's basically a mispronunciation of his name, and nothing related to Frankfurt Germany)
Germans are the biggest ethic group in the US at 14 almost 15 percent of the people which might not seem like a lot but in a country with so many people and other ethnicities it's pretty substantial
Slaves in Texas didn’t know about the emancipation proclamation until 2 years later at like the very end of the war which is why black Americans celebrate Juneteenth on June 19th because that was the day in 1865 that all slaves were free in the USA
it took until Grants presidency for it to finally be abolished, and even then Reconstruction made it so racism was still ingrained in the system up until Equal Rights movement of the 1900's
The 13th Amendment, enacted in January of 1865, amended the Constitution to abolish slavery; that covered the whole country. According to my quick research, it was ratified by the required 27 states by the end of that year. You may be thinking of the Emancipation Proclamation earlier in the war, which did apply only to the slaves in the areas of the country currently in rebellion (and that did not include Maryland, Kentucky, Missouri and Delaware). As a footnote, Maryland adopted a new state constitution in 1864, outlawing slavery by state law.
I find it interesting that when it comes to conscription the fact that you could pay another man $300 to take your place always gets mentioned - but in the South there was an exemption centered around the number of slaves owned. So, yes - if you had the money, you only fought by choice. Though in the North - it was obvious what you had done, paid another man to risk his life in your stead. Some men later came to regret this choice, since some folks use a certain word to describe that kind of behavior.
It was mentioned in the video as well, but Union forces caught Lincoln's killer Booth in a barn and he was shot. He died the next morning, near the same time Lincoln did.
I'd recommend, if you are able to find it, is the documentary about the Reconstruction that Dr Henry Louis Gates narrates. It's the next part of the story.
Lincoln was in fact furious after Gettysburg because there was no attempt to pursue and destroy Lee's decimated army. Some see this as a decision that prolonged the war for two more years.
It is still an open question though... Lincoln was right that a pursuit could have ended the war and Meade was right that his army was already exhausted. Who was more right? Hard to say.
Booth was shot in a burning barn soon after he shot Lincoln and died fairly quickly. His conspirators (who attempted to murder the Vice President and the Secretary of State but were not successful) were tried and hanged. Interestingly enough, Booth's sister and older brother were virulently against his beliefs, which apparently was fairly common in Maryland families at the time. They were, I believe, Union, but as a border state opinions varied wildly even within families. Booth's brother had had one fight too many with him and forbade him from entering his house.
Also another interesting fact is that civilian deaths were actually quite rare in the Civil War, in gettysburg (the deadliest battle in the war) only 1 civilian was killed and they were even fighting in the streets firing around houses and all, and her name was Jennie Wade, she was a baker and was actually making bread at the time when a bullet hit her through the window, her house is actually a "museum" (it's kinda small)
Yes, John Wilkes Booth was hiding in a barn in Virginia. At first they tried to smoke him out by setting he barn on fire. Then one of the soldiers shot him through a crack in the barn walls. He was on the run for 11 days after the assassination. Whenever the opposing general would ask for his terms of surrender, General Grant was known to always say “unconditional and immediate surrender.” The Ohio generals in the Civil War were kind of bad ass. They still hate Sherman in Georgia. 🤷🏼♀️
Besides the Gettysburg address, you should really read Lincoln's 2nd inaugural address. It is oft forgotten because much of it's positive tone and intent were wiped out by Lincoln's assassination.
Lincoln’s was at the end when his death was unnecessary. It would’ve been very interesting to see what kind of peacetime president he would’ve been. The man considered the last victim of the Civil War is Joshua Chamberlain, who they mentioned as the savior of the second day of Gettysburg with his bayonet charge. He was promoted for that and was gravely wounded during the siege of Petersburg. His wound never healed and he suffered until his death in 1914 at 85.
@@thewiseoldherper7047 Imagine fighting in the American Civil War and living just long enough to see the beginning of the first world war. At least he was able to see how far America had come within his own lifetime...
Robert E Lee had a distinguished career in the US Army and was offered the command of the Union troops before he resigned his commission and took command of the Confederate Army. He was the son of "Light Horse Harry" Lee, a Revolutionary General and was married to the grand daughter of Martha Washington. Martha had 2 children and was the wealthy widow of Daniel Parke Custis when she married George Washington. The Lees lived on an estate called Arlington just across the Potomac River from Washington, DC. The Federal Government seized the property and started burying Union (and some Confederate soldiers) on the grounds and continued to do it through out the war. After the War, Lee's heirs sued and won $150,000 in compensation but they didn't get the land back. It's now the most hallowed ground in the country. It's the resting place of the Unknown Soldiers, Presidents Kennedy and Taft and thousands of others who have given their lives for this country. Lee ended his days as the President of Washington University in Roanoke, VA. It's now known as Washington and Lee University.
Every thing your ancestors did, determine if you exist or not. One of my CSA ancestors was captured at the siege of Ft Donaldson in Tennessee in 1862. Another Union ancestor was captured at the Battle of Richmond in Kentucky in that same year. Early prisoners of war got furloughed (agreed to never fight again). Later prisoners were not so lucky. Easy defeat saved both men from dying at that time, or dying in future battles over the next 3 years. That CSA ancestor was so impressed, he named his son, Ulysses, after General Grant, who had captured Ft Donaldson.
The narrator was referring to his cavalry commander Nathan Bedford Forest and he mentioned his cruelty. He was responsible for the massacre of hundreds of American prisoners, most whom were black. He was the first leader of the Ku Klux Klan.
28:55 Mark! Huh? Yes! He was the man shot by the calvary unit! By the way, his co-conspirators, including a woman, were hung. I think there were five of them. 🤔 Maybe they didn't help plan what he did, but did help him otherwise. 😮
22:12 Mark! Sherman's land tactics would eventually be done by airplanes. He has a military tank named for him. Grant became POTUS and is on the Fifty $ note with Lincoln on the Cent coin and the Five $ note! 😊
The IIIX Amendment doesn't outlaw slavery altogether. The state is allowed, in the text of the document, to use inmates as forced labor. Jefferson Davis was captured 15 miles from my home.
I was reading up on others comments and notice no one talked about the historical common background of these generals. Most had went to our military school call West Point. That is how they knew each other and/or their reputations. Lee was brilliant in school that’s why they chooses him. Some of those generals were rich spoil kids going to West Point. That’s why some said they were afraid to go into battle.
It’s extraordinarily awful that Lincoln was assassinated, not only because he didn’t get to see the fruits of his labor, but because his death led to the failure of Reconstruction, the rise of the Jim Crow South, and ultimately the division in the US seen today. If Reconstruction had been carried out to its fullest extent than I have no doubts this would be a more unified, just, and equitable nation today.
You aren’t aware that Lincoln was all for freeing slaves from slavery,but didn’t want them commingling with whites,he wanted to keep them segregated and had a plan to even pat them to leave the country,go back and read his speeches and proposals from the 1840’s-50’s.
@@steveyork8069 actually I’m well aware of that. Bold of you to think otherwise. I doubt though that Lincoln would’ve actually gone forth with those proposals post-bellum
@@steveyork8069 No, Lincoln had a plan to send the freed slaves to Liberia because he believed that was what the slaves would have wanted - to go to a country that was established for them. However, after opposition from freed slaves in the North who told him it was not what they would want, Lincoln dropped the idea and never brought it up again. Also, Lincoln’s last speech that he gave discussed a desire to grant voting rights for black people. He was killed for that speech.
I know you meant General Forrest. But the truth is that he was a slave trader before the war. He commanded the Confederate forces at the Battle of Fort Pillow during the war. In which hundreds of Union soldiers, most of them black, were taken prisoner and massacred. And after the war he was one of the founders of the Ku Klux Klan. He was truly a monster. And there’s irony in John Wilkes Booth assassinating Lincoln. Two years earlier his elder brother, Edwin Thomas Booth, had saved Lincoln’s eldest son, Robert, from being crushed by a train. By that point, John Wilkes was estranged from the family as Edwin and his father, Junius, vehemently supported the Union while John did not. Funny enough, Robert Lincoln recognized his rescuer and called him by name. Edwin Booth however, would not discover the young man’s identity for several months. A friend of his who knew Robert told him.
There was only one civilian death in Gettysburg Jennie Wade was taking care of her sister who had just had a baby. They ran out of bread and Jennie was in the kitchen making some when she was shot by a stray bullet You can tour the house in Gettysburg
Right down the street from me is The last home of Jefferson Davis and Confederate graveyard. It sits right on the highway opposite the Gulf of Mexico. I live in Biloxi Mississippi btw.
Fun fact at 25:59, if you look closely at the 2nd floor on the left building, there are two kids who were watching the funeral of Abe. One of those kids is Theadore Roosevelt, the 26th president of United States.
Forest is complicated. Fort Pillow, at least according to Forest, was him losing command of his troops and being unable to prevent the massacre after the Union troops refused to surrender. Union sources claimed the opposite and then when they surrendered they were massacred. It seems most likely that due to very high emotions, the Confederates, Forest included, were just out for blood. Forest denied it and said he begged the Union troops to surrender, but that's him speaking after it, so that that with a grain of salt. And with the KKK at the beginning it was about more than just racism against African Americans. It was against the occupying Union Army and against Republican politicians. He tried non-violent means of 'convincing' African-Americans that the old pre-war status was best... that obviously failed. He then let the KKK become violent and they engaged in murder and intimidation campaigns. It very quickly got out of hand and became just a bunch of murderers, rapists, and thugs. To the point that Forest ordered the KKK disbanded and disavowed them. No one obeyed that though and it continued on and only became more violent. After a series of murders against African-Americans he wrote to the state governor and "volunteered to help 'exterminate' those men responsible for the continued violence against the blacks", offering "to exterminate the white marauders who disgrace their race by this cowardly murder of Negroes". So he clearly did not approve of what the KKK and racists in the south were doing at that point in his life.(though by our standards now he was ABSOLUTELY extremely racist, though so were almost everyone in the North). He spoke before an organization of Black-Southerners, advocating to improve the economic condition of blacks and to gain equal rights for all citizens. An African-American woman in the audience offered him a bouquet of flowers and he thanked her with a kiss on the cheek(which was the standard gentlemanly thing to do at the time). He also spoke in encouragement of black advancement and of endeavoring to be a proponent for espousing peace and harmony between black and white Americans. Because of the kiss he was vilified and reviled by racists in the South who disavowed him and considered him a race-traitor and collaborator. Forest was a brilliant and brave cavalry commander. Probably one of the best of 19th century warfare. He was very much a racist and participated personally in a a lot of horrible things. But after the war, he did change his tune. Whether that was a genuine conversion of the mind and soul and realizing he was wrong... or him just accepting which way the wind was blowing, that's debatable. But there is still something to appreciate about someone who tries to make up for the wrongs they did in life. At any rate when war with Spain was a possibility in the 1870s he sent a letter to General Sherman, who was the highest ranking general in the American army at the time, offering his services. And Sherman declined but said he'd have been honored to have had Forest serve under him. I think the most ironic thing about Forest is he's hailed by ignorant racists who don't realize that at the end of his life he basically denounced them and their ideology and volunteered to go kill people like them.
Couple of fun things: - Stonewall Jackson lost his arm first. There's a monument in Chancellorsville, Virginia for it. His body is interred in Lexington, VA after he died eight days later - Nathan Bedford Forrest went on to form the KKK. It's joked that Forrest Gump is named after him in the beginning of the movie and that he is a distant ancestor. - John Wilkes Booth (who shot Lincoln) was caught and shot, as mentioned. He was arguably the most famous actor of the day. The modern equivalent would be if Tom Hanks shot Joe Biden. - Near where I live in Charlotte, North Carolina is a plaque that marks the spot where Jefferson Davis (Confederacy President) was told about Lincoln's death. It's right on Tryon St. in the middle of uptown. The northern papers and Secretary of War Stanton started a rumor that Jefferson Davis was caught hiding in his wife's clothes as a disguise.
