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The Civil War and After: 1856 - 1889
The Civil WarCongress passed the Kansas-Nebraska Act in 1854. It allowed new territories to decide for themselves on permitting slavery in their boundaries. This repealed the Missouri Compromise, which had outlawed slavery north of latitude 36�30�. During this same time, the Supreme Court heard the Dred Scott case, and ruled that a slave who was taken to a free state or territory remained a slave. Lincoln's opposition to the Kansas-Nebraska Act and the Supreme Court decision in the Dred Scott case prompted his return to politics in 1858. The newly formed Republican Party nominated Lincoln for the Senate and he gave his famous "House Divided" speech. Stephen Douglas was his Democratic opponent. During their campaigns, they would have seven debates. Douglas defeated Lincoln in that election. Although Douglas won the election, the debates gained Lincoln national attention. In 1860, the Republican Party nominated Lincoln for President on the third ballot. He defeated three other candidates in the general election, including Douglas. Lincoln was inaugurated on March 4, 1861 as the 16th President of the United States. In his first inaugural address, Lincoln spoke about the issues of slavery, the formation of the Confederacy and his desire to avoid a war between the states. The Civil War began on April 12, 1861 with a Confederate attack on Fort Sumter in South Carolina. Lincoln ordered the blockade of Southern ports on April 27th. At the beginning of the war, southern sympathizers in Illinois tried to establish a separate state as part of the Confederacy. However, the majority of the population in Illinois favored the Union, and this movement was soon suppressed. Over 259,000 men from Illinois served in the Union armies during the Civil War, and more than 32,000 men from Illinois were killed or died from disease during the war. Camp Butler was built in Springfield in 1861 as a major training facility for Union troops. It also served as a large prisoner of war camp for captured Confederate soldiers. Other large posts in Illinois included Camp Douglas and Camp Fuller.
This is a photograph of Camp Butler as it appeared during the Civil War.
Richard Oglesby, from Decatur, became a Major General in the Union army. He later was elected governor of Illinois. John A. Logan, from Benton, was also a Major General in the Union Army. Perhaps the most famous of the Union generals, Ulysses S. Grant, also came from Illinois. Grant and his family moved to Galena in the spring of 1860. Grant had left the military six years earlier, but experienced little success as a businessman. He came to Galena to work in the store owned by his father and brother. When the Civil War began, Grant joined the Union Army as a Colonel in the 21st Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment. He was quickly promoted to higher commissions and, in March of 1864, was appointed Lieutenant General and commander of the Union army. Grant returned a hero to Galena at the end of the war, and the town gave him a house. Grant was elected president in 1868 and visited Galena for the final time in 1880.
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