When the Civil War began, both the North and the South imagined it would be a swift and easy victory. But what made the North think they could win so easily? And what about the South? Well, it came down to their respective advantages. Keep reading to learn about these advantages as well as the disadvantages each side would face. They would determine the strategy of each side and the eventual outcome of the Civil War.
Advantages of the North in the Civil War
At the Civil War outbreak, the North possessed many fundamental advantages, including its manpower, expansive railway network, superior navy, and higher output of industrial production. Let's go over these in more detail below.
Advantages of the North in the Civil War: Military Advantages
The North possessed a population of 22 million, whereas the South had a population of only 9 million people--3.5 million of whom were slaves. This advantage in manpower meant that:
- The Union could raise a larger army and could also reinforce this army more easily as the war went on.
- Maintaining a functioning economy and having workers for war industries would not be as much of an issue as it would be in the South.
On land, the Union had a much more comprehensive railway network for moving supplies, men, and material. And at sea, their navy reigned supreme, as they had begun the Civil War with full possession of the United States warships.
The naval superiority of the Union lent itself to the Anaconda Plan, a Northern military strategy that called for a blockade of all Confederate ports. The idea was to strangle the South into submission by cutting off their key trade networks with European powers.
Fig. 1 - illustration of the Anaconda Plan
Advantages of the North in the Civil War: Economic Advantages
The North also had an upper hand economically, as it had a larger number of financial institutions and a much more developed industrial base. Much of the United States's manufactured goods were made in the North, leaving the Confederacy to use what equipment they already possessed or what they could get from Europe. In contrast, the North could manufacture their own supplies and remain self-sustaining.
Advantages of the South in the Civil War
Though the South was at a disadvantage in terms of population and industry, they possessed some advantages of their own.
Advantages of the South in the Civil War: Military Advantages
The most crucial advantage of the Confederacy was that they had a more limited war aim that would not require as much military power to accomplish. Their goal was to preserve their independence from the Union, meaning all they had to do was defend their territory and put up enough of a fight that the Union lost its own will to fight.
In contrast, the Union would have to conquer vast swathes of unfamiliar territory.
Additionally, the further Union forces pushed into the South, the more stretched their own lines of supply would become. Thus, if the Confederacy could inflict enough losses on the Union Army by fighting in favorable battles from strong defensive positions, they could win the war through attrition and compel the Union to give up on trying to reconquer their lost territory. It certainly helped that the Confederacy had arguably more experienced military leaders than the Union.
The Historiography of Military Leaders in the Civil War
Though there is ultimately subjectivity involved in assessing the skills of the generals and presidents on either side of the conflict, it is a commonly discussed subject in the historiography of the American Civil War.
Some histories put forward that the Confederacy possessed, in general, a greater quality of commanders in the form of generals such as Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson, referencing cases of them outmaneuvering Union armies in Virginia and suggesting that clever and intelligent leadership from Southern commanders gave the Confederacy an advantage over the Union in battle.1 Others reference Lincoln's dissatisfaction with some of his commanders, notably George McClellan when making the argument that the Confederate had superior generals.
Fig. 2 - Robert E. Lee
While many important generals on both sides experienced both tactical and strategic victories as well as failures, what can be said certainly is that seven of the eight military colleges in the United States at the time of the secession crisis were located in the South, though not all of their graduates would be sympathetic to the Southern cause at the outbreak of the war.
Advantages of the South in the Civil War: Economic Advantages
While the South might have had less industrial production, they had control over agricultural production, mainly cotton and tobacco. The Confederacy hoped they could use "King Cotton Diplomacy" to influence European powers such as the United Kingdom or France to intervene on their behalf. These nations relied on cotton imports for their own industries, namely the textile industry, so the South believed the restriction of its trade would force their hand. In conjunction with enough significant military victories, the Confederacy thought they could surely sway powers like Britain and France to give them recognition and some level of support.
Disadvantages of the South in the Civil War
Essentially, the advantages of the North in the Civil War were the disadvantages of the South. The South had a smaller population and lacked access to supplies, and it was because of these disadvantages that the fine military prowess of military leaders like Robert E. Lee was so useful.
Enlisted soldiers:
- Union: 2.1 million
- Confederacy: 1.1 million
The Confederacy had to be strategic in order to earn a victory with a shortage of manpower and supplies. European intervention would have helped the South immensely when it came to this supply shortage, but the Emancipation Proclamation dashed any hopes of support.
The Emancipation Proclamation was an executive order issued by Abraham Lincoln that freed all slaves in rebelling states and territories. It shifted the Union's war aim from preserving the Union to ending slavery. This not only increased morale in the North but ruined the chance of a European intervention because no European power would support a cause that explicitly endorsed slavery.
Fig. 3 - print of the Emancipation Proclamation
Interestingly, the Confederacy had the ability to increase both its manpower and funding, but its commitment to states' rights prevented any real action. For example, the Confederacy was unable to:
- Enforce a draft
- "Free" enslaved people to fight for the Confederacy
- Levy any income taxes to finance the war effort
Disadvantages of the North in the Civil War
While the North might have been fighting in unfamiliar territory with a relatively inexperienced military, these disadvantages could be easily overcome with the advantage of manpower and supplies to spare. The real threat to the Union war effort was a lack of morale, as that was what the Confederacy was hoping to target but failed.
Fig. 4 - painting of the Battle of Antietam
Advantages of the North and the South in the War - Key takeaways
- In the Civil War, the North had the advantages of a larger population, a more expansive railway network, a superior navy, and a higher output of industrial production.
- The South's main advantage was that their more limited war goal would be easier to achieve, as all they needed to do was defend their territory and outlast the Union's will to fight.
- The South also had arguably more experienced military leaders that could work strategically when it came to the South's lower population and lack of supplies.
- Though the Confederacy hoped that King Cotton Diplomacy would earn them the advantage of European support, the Emancipation Proclamation effectively ended all hope of this. It also gave the North an advantage in reigniting morale.
- Because of the Confederacy's commitment to states' rights, they were unable to take actions (such as enforcing a draft or levying an income tax) that would relieve their shortage of troops and funding.
References
- Russell F. Weigley, A Great Civil War: A Military and Political History (2004).
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