Emancipation Proclamation

McClellan and Lee fought at Antietam the other day and people say it was an extremely bloody battle. It ended in a draw and Lincoln fired McClellan. It was about time though; McClellan was causing more harm than good in the war. President Lincoln presented the Emancipation Proclamation today. It stated that all slaves were free in the confederate states and that slaves could enlist in the army. His reasoning for this was to keep the Union together, but not end slavery all at once. Slaves were technically property and the government is allowed to take away their opponents supplies in a war. So it was completely legal for the Union to take and free many of the Confederate slaves. So far I have seen a lot of different reactions to this proclamation. The South is angry and felt antagonized while the North was rooting for this proclamation to take effect. According to Lincoln it would become a law in January 1863.

Emancipation Proclamation
http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/Images/proclamation.jpg

 

War Update

The war has still been dragging on. The Union still has the upper hand, but the Confederates have been standing their ground. I received news that McClellan was his usual self and took too long to take over Richmond, and lost the battle. He really needs to clean up his act or he will find himself fired. His opponent, General Lee, is one of the best Confederate leaders and it would have been hard for anyone to beat him and his troops. From what I have heard Lee is very open minded and decisive. We seem very much alike. I bet it would be a great battle if he and I went head to head.  I have also of heard news of the South trying to take an offensive stance on DC. The east really needs to clean up their act or much more blood will be shed.

McClellan
http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/chron/civilwarpics/mcclellan.jpg

Farragut's Assistance

Today I heard some more great news on the battlefield! Admiral Farragut was able to capture all of New Orleans in one strike! This is a major victory for the North. Though I wish I could have done it myself I am glad that the North has such a large handle on things. With our skill, Admiral Farragut and I have been able to take the entire Mississippi. There are just two more places that we need to take over to be 100% in control. Port Hudson and Vicksburg are going to be tough to infiltrate, but with all of the victories we have had so far I think we can do it. This war has definitely gone on much longer than I and the other soldiers had suspected. Hopefully once we take over Port Hudson and Vicksburg, most of the fighting will be done and we will be able to resolve the problems that started this war in the first place.

Admiral Farragut
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f8/Admiral_Farragut2.jpg

Shiloh

Things have been slow for the past month, but today was one for the books. We battled this week at Shiloh. My troops and I had set up camp at a church in Shiloh, Tennessee we didn't feel the need to have guards around the clock so we all rested for a bit. We awoke that morning to an attack by a group of Confederate soldiers! Yes, we were taken by shock, but a little surprise attack wasn't enough to make me surrender. I lost a lot of men and it was going to hurt my chances of taking over the Mississippi. But, luckily I thought of counterattacking them the next day and I was able to force them to surrender. This battle was a great victory and though I lost a lot of men, I was able to learn a few things. Number one, we need scouts at all times, because we never know when the Confederates will attack. And number two, this is going to be a very long and bloody war.   

Shiloh
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f6/Battle_of_Shiloh_Thulstrup.jpg

Early Victories

Things seem to be going strong on my end of of the war. I have had victories in my first few battles. I have been able to control my troops with wins in both Fort Henry and Fort Donelson on the Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers. I am not going to say that they were easy wins, but they were strong wins. I feel as if there was not a point in the two battles where I was unsure if we could take over the Confederate forts. Luckily, I have great troops and believe that we can have a big impact on the way the Civil War goes. We are very close to having control of the entire Mississippi River and with a few more wins for the North we will have the South divided and the war can end sooner. 

Fort Donelson
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/10/Battle_of_Fort_Donelson.png