Naming the American Civil War

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The American Civil War has been known by numerous alternative names that reflect the historical, political, and cultural sensitivities of different groups and regions. Unlike some other civil wars, the conflict was not fought over control of a single government, but rather was fought to defeat or defend a secession movement. The combatants, armies, and battles of the war also had distinctive names used at the time and historically.

[edit] The War

The following names have been, or are, used to describe the conflict itself, listed roughly by frequency of use. The first two names have seen enduring usage; the remaining names have been more isolated.

[edit] Enduring names

[edit] Civil War

The most common term for the conflict, it has been used by the overwhelming majority of reference books, scholarly journals, dictionaries, encyclopedias, popular histories, and mass media in the United States since the early 20th century.^[1] The National Park Service, the government organization entrusted by the United States Congress to preserve the battlefields of the war, uses this term.^[2] It is also the oldest term for the war. Writings of prominent men such as Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee, Ulysses S. Grant, William Tecumseh Sherman, P.G.T. Beauregard, Nathan Bedford Forrest, and Judah P. Benjamin used the term Civil War both before and during the conflict. Abraham Lincoln used it on multiple occasions.^{[citation needed]}

English-speaking historians outside the United States usually refer to the conflict as the American Civil War or, less often, U.S. Civil War.^{[citation needed]} These variations are seldom used in the United States except in cases in which the war might otherwise be confused with another historical event (e.g., the English Civil War).

[edit] War Between the States

This term was rarely used during the war but became common afterwards in the South.

• In 1862, the United States Supreme Court used the terms "[t]he present civil war between the United States and the so[-]called Confederate States," as well as "[the] civil war such as that now waged between the Northern and Southern States."^[3]
• The Confederate government avoided the term "civil war" and referred in official documents to the "War between the Confederate States of America and the United States of America."^[3] There are a handful of known references during the war to "the war between the states."^[4]

• European diplomacy produced a similar formula for avoiding the phrase "civil war." Queen Victoria's proclamation of British neutrality referred to "hostilities ... between the Government of the United States of America and certain States styling themselves the Confederate States of America."^[3]

• After the war, the memoirs of former Confederate officials and veterans (e.g., Joseph E. Johnston, Raphael Semmes, and especially Alexander Stephens) commonly used the term "War Between the States." In 1898 the United Confederate Veterans formally endorsed the name.

• In the early twentieth century the United Daughters of the Confederacy led a campaign to promote the term "War Between the States" in the media and in public schools.

• Efforts to convince the United States Congress to adopt the term, beginning in 1913, were unsuccessful. Congress has never adopted an official name for the Civil War.

• The name "War Between the States" is inscribed on the Marine Corps memorial at Arlington National Cemetery.

• References to the "War Between the States" turn up in federal and state court documents from time to time. ^[5]

The names "Civil War" and "War Between the States" have been used jointly in some formal contexts.

• The war's centenary in the 1960s saw the creation of the Georgia Civil War Centennial Commission Commemorating the War Between the States.

• In 1994 the U.S. Postal Service issued commemorative stamps titled "The Civil War / The War Between the States."

[edit] Other historical terms for the war

[edit] War of the Rebellion

Main article: Official Records of the American Civil War

During and immediately after the war, U.S. officials and pro-Union writers often referred to Confederates as "Rebels" and to the war itself as "the Rebellion." In modern usage, however, the term "War of the Rebellion" usually refers only to the collection of documents compiled and published by the U.S. War Department as The War of the Rebellion: a Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1880–1901. This 70-volume collection is the chief source of historical documentation for those interested in Civil War research.

[edit] War for Southern Independence

The War for Southern Independence was a name used in reference to the War.^[6] While popular on the Confederate side during the war itself, this term's popularity fell in the immediate aftermath of the South's failure to gain independence. This term resurfaced in the late 20th century. To Southerners, this terminology paralleled usage of the term "American War for Independence, as demonstrated by the popular poem published in the early stages of the hostilities under the title South Carolina; the prologue of which unambiguously refers to the war as the "Third War for Independence" (specifically naming the War of 1812 as the Second such War)^[7] C.f. "The tea has been thrown overboard. The Revolution of 1860 has been initiated." -- 8th Nov. 1860, Charleston Mercury (regarding post-election 'fall-out').^[8]

[edit] War of Northern Aggression

This term emphasizes claims by Confederate partisans that the North invaded the South. The term has never been widely adapted throughout the nation as an explicit name for the war [note however, that examples of usages of close variations during the War are extant (e.g., "War of Northern Subjugation;" "...of Yankee Invader(s);" etc.)]. Certain limited use of this term continues to the present day.

[edit] Other Terms

Other terms for the war have seen even less frequent usage, particularly in modern times. In the South: War in Defense of Virginia, Mr. Lincoln's War, War of Secession, and the War When Lincoln and the North Invaded America. In the North: War of the Insurrection, Slaveholders War, Great Rebellion, War to Save the Union. Later writers invented terms such as War for Abolition, War of Southern Reaction and War to Prevent Southern Independence, which were rarely used in print or conversation.

Immediately after the war, the following expressions were common: The War, The Late Unpleasantness, and The Lost Cause.

[edit] Combatants

• U.S. forces were popularly referred to as "the Union", "Federals", "the North," or "Yankees".
• Confederate forces were commonly referred to as "the Confederacy," "the South," "Rebels," or "Dixie."
• A soldier who fought for the North was referred to as "Billy Yank".
• A soldier who fought for the South was called "Johnny Reb".

[edit] Battles and armies

In addition to differences in naming the war between North and South, there is a disparity between the sides in naming some of the battles of the war. In the North, battles were frequently named for rivers or creeks that were prominent on or near the battlefield; in the South, the nearest town was used. Not all of the disparities are based on this land-versus-water conflict. Most modern accounts of Civil War battles use the names established by the North. However, for some battles, the Southern name has become the standard. The National Park Service occasionally uses the Southern names for their battlefield parks located in the South, such as Manassas and Shiloh. Some examples of battles with dual names are:

Civil War armies were also named in a manner reminiscent of the battlefields: Northern armies were frequently named for major rivers (Army of the Potomac, Army of the Tennessee, Army of the Mississippi, etc.), Southern armies for states or geographic regions (Army of Northern Virginia, Army of Tennessee, Army of Mississippi).

Units smaller than armies were named differently in many cases. Corps were usually written out (First Army Corps or more simply, First Corps), although a post-war convention developed to designate Union corps using Roman numerals (XI Corps). Often, particularly with Southern armies, corps were more commonly known by the name of the leader (Hardee's Corps, Polk's Corps, etc.). Union brigades were given numeric designations (1st, 2nd, ...), whereas Confederate brigades were frequently named after their commanding general (Hood's Brigade, Gordon's Brigade, ...). Confederate brigades so-named retained the name of the original commander even when commanded temporarily by another man; for example, at the Battle of Gettysburg, Hoke's Brigade was commanded by Isaac Avery and Nicholl's Brigade by Jesse Williams. Nicknames were common in both armies, such as the Iron Brigade and the Stonewall Brigade. Union artillery batteries were generally named numerically, Confederate batteries by the name of the town or county in which they were recruited (Fluvanna Artillery). Again, they were often simply referred to by their commander's name (Moody's Battery, Parker's Battery, etc.).

[edit] Notes

[edit] References

• Catton, Bruce, The Coming Fury: The Centennial History of the Civil War, Volume 1, Doubleday, 1961, ISBN 0-641-68525-4
• Coski, John M., "The War between the Names," North and South magazine, vol. 8, no. 7., January 2006.
• U.S. War Department, The War of the Rebellion: a Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1880–1901.
• Wittichen, Murray Forbes, "Let's Say 'War Between the States'," Florida Division, United Daughters of the Confederacy, 1954.

[edit] External links

• National Park Service
• Civil War Battle Names
• Declaration of Causes of the Seceding States
• Musick, Michael P., "Civil War Records: A War by Any Other Name." Prologue: Quarterly of the National Archives. Summer 1995, Vol. 27, No. 2.