LESSON PLAN: The Battles
Video Segments
Table of ContentsThe battle of Gettysburg brought an end to Lee's northward advances and to any illusions that the war would be swift and clean. It began over a run for shoes made in a small Pennsylvania town, and was the costliest three days in American history. A year later on the same spot President Lincoln delivered his famous Gettysburg address. While it was one of the shortest speeches of his life, it was long on substance and aspiration.
Lee's army, now suffering from high desertion rates, began to suffer from Union perseverance. General Grant, Lincoln's final choice for military commander, dug in at Petersburg for a ten-month siege. Grant's friend William Tecumseh Sherman led a march south to Atlanta and north into South Carolina, a march that became renowned for its bitterness. Sherman was the war's first modern general, targeting civilians in order to break southern morale. On their procession through Georgia, his men ate better than ever before.
By 1865, Lee's army had been stripped of its power. Giving in to his situation, the "marble model" surrendered his proud but straggling forces at Appomattox. The war had come to an end.
1. Gettysburg: The Third Day
- What made Gettysburg the greatest battle yet in the "western hemisphere"? What did you feel when you saw the battle scenes?
- Why did General Lee offer to resign after the battle of Gettysburg was over?
- How did Pickett's soldiers feel before making their charge? Why were these men willing to charge, even though they knew it meant almost certain death?
- Why was Pickett upset with Lee, his superior? Should Pickett have been given the choice of not sending in his men?
- How did Gettysburg change the course of the war? (It was the South's last attempt at invading the North. At the same time, Grant gained control of the Mississippi, thereby splitting the South in two.)
2. The Gettysburg Address
- What was the main point of Lincoln's speech?
- Why do you think his speech is remembered today?
- What can the speech tell us today?
3. Sherman's March
- What actions earned Sherman the hatred of many southerners, particularly Georgians?
- Describe some of the trademarks of Sherman's march. Why did one of his men call it a "gigantic pleasure excursion?"
- How did Sherman help President Lincoln? (He improved his reelection chances.)
4. Surrender
- Describe the generals' behavior at Appomattox.
- What was going through Lee's mind when he surrendered? What was going through Grant's mind?
- What kind of ending to the war did Grant desire?
- Review Volume #146, Chapter 6, third day of battle at Gettysburg. Use the Gettysburg Map for an overview of the first two days of the battle. Discuss the battle's overall significance in the war. Have students work in pairs or small groups to write newspaper headlines and sub-headlines to describe the battle. How well do students remember what they saw? What story do most students' headlines tell? Do they provide an objective point of view?
- Many soldiers and their officers died carrying out orders that may have seemed hopeless to them. Review this segment of Pickett's charge at Gettysburg. How poorly did Pickett's men fare during their advance against Cemetery Ridge? Ask students if they think soldiers should always obey their officers. Should a general's orders be questioned? Why is obedience such a valued quality among soldiers and their officers? Have students look at the Gettysburg Battle Maps. Did the South have any alternative to charging the ridge?
- Many soldiers deserted their armies as a result of the conditions they encountered while fighting in the war. Unprepared for the physical and emotional hardship, and sick of the misery of war, increasing numbers of men abandoned their armies on both sides towards the end. Was execution an appropriate punishment for desertion? Ask students to propose other kinds of punishment. What are the criteria for different sentences?
- Divide the class down the middle. Arrange all of the desks in four rows. There should be more distance in the middle of the room than between the rows. Ask students to sit on the floor in their row of desks, so that the class is arranged in the shape of two opposing trenches. The desks should "protect" students from the front and behind. Have students sit on the floor like this for the duration of the class period. Explain to the class that any time a student is heard talking (unless asked to speak by the teacher), his or her side will lose a point. The side that has lost the most points at the end of the class period loses the "battle."
Proceed with your lesson plan for the day. Towards the end of the period, rearrange the classroom as it was originally. Discuss the activity as a class. How would students have liked to be in a trench for ten months, as soldiers were during the siege of Petersburg? What might this kind of on-going physical discomfort have been like for soldiers during the war? How must it have changed them physically and psychologically?
- Give each student a copy of the Gettysburg Address. Review the video segment with the class. Have students create a collage on the classroom wall that represents the statements made in the address. Allow several days for students to collect materials for use in the collage. Help students to decide what kinds of images and quotes to look for. What kinds of editorial statements might the collage make?
- Explain to the class that many historians consider Sherman to have been the first modern general. His attacks on civilian populations transgressed the traditional view that wars should be fought by professional armies. Review the segment on Sherman's march and discuss it. How many students think that civilians are appropriate military targets? Did Sherman's methods make him a particularly cruel general? What advantages over other strategies did Sherman perceive in his own?
- Explain to the class that most modern wars are waged against civilians as well as against opposing military forces. Would your students agree that "all is fair in war?" You might want to explore ways of limiting damage to civilian populations by listing rules that might be enforced on warring countries during times of war.
- Generals must continually monitor their progress in war. They must evaluate past victories and losses, examine their current situation, and plan future strategies. They must be able to think both of the short-term risks and opportunities, and of the long-term strategy. Ask students why they think capturing cities, cutting supply lines, controlling rivers, etc., are important steps towards achieving an overall set of goals.
- What would happen to students' lives if civil war were to engulf the country today? How would their lives be interrupted? Would the country divide along North-South lines? Where would the lines be drawn between sides? What would the outcome be like?
- As a class, use the board to list what the United States should have learned from the experience of the Civil War. Could it ever happen again? Why or why not? Discuss ways in which the country can ensure that the experience is never repeated. Students might divide into pairs or small groups to draft a memo to the president detailing steps the country might take in order to prevent its internal division.
- Discuss some of the following scenarios as a class. How would life be different today if they had actually occurred?
How would the war have changed. . .
. . . if Lee had fought for the Union, and Grant and Lee had fought together?
. . . if Lee had won?
. . . if there had been no Emancipation Proclamation?
. . . if a foreign country had joined the war with the South?- Most American cities were extremely vulnerable during the war. Unlike many old and fortified European cities, most American cities were not built on the model of the fortress. Instead, the country's armed forces were designed to prevent armed conflict from occurring on U.S. soil. Invite students to draw the city plans of a fortified town. Students will need to discuss what kinds of attacks they need to be protected from. They might also research fortified cities around the world for historical examples. Alternately, students might analyze their own town. How might it be vulnerable in war?
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