What advantage did the South have over the North during the Civil War?

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The south had General Lee and he was a better general than McClellan.

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The best answer is leadership, Lee, Jackson, Forrest, Johnston, Hill, Longstreet, the list goes on and on and history shows this to be the case. Untill Lincoln found Grant the union was stumbling. Another point is the southerns themselves, mostly farm boys, quite experienced with hunting and horses, as compared to the northen urbanites.

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Cotton & Tobbacco...the biggest US exports and in huge demand by the rest of the world. A strong agricultural base, partially due to climate and aided by slave labor.

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The South had a much better developed martial tradition. Southerners typically had more military training, so, at least at the outset of the war, the Confederate Army was much better led than the Union. The South also had more fighting spirit, in part because it was their territory being invaded.

Material resources, particularly manufactured goods, were in seriously short supply, and the weakness at sea made it pretty much impossible to do much about it.

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The Southerners were defending their homeland. Usually the one defending has a military advantage but if they are defending on their own country, then they have even greater advantage.

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The South was invaded? The South defected to start and then it attacked the North! And...after being the defectors, led by what can only be considered traitors (which it seems some of the ancestors now want to feel is something to take pride in), and after attacking its previously benevolent parent, the Confederacy tried and did cause tremendous damage/death to others. Trying to conquer others (they wanted to control everything) and did so by raping, pillaging and then burning the northern assets, (incl the Whitehouse for example). Moreover, it did this while the World ridiculed it. It didn't have nor could it find a friend or supporter anywhere. (FACT - not ONE country, including the French or British, who by no means really liked the US as it was, and in fact each had wars with the US within years of the civil war), would even acknowledge the Confederacy as a country or sovereign nation (even with the South trying to extort their support by using Tobacco and Cotton). Without acknowledgment as a Country, they can't print money accepted anywhere else, etc. But most importantly, it just goes to show they were, in the eyes of the rest of the world, just anarchist/terrorist disloyal defectors with bad ideas, that no other government would take seriously. Like the vile terrorists, treason-ists of today...with ideas to control all others and insisting it's their right to do so, because they are simply superior in Gods eyes....and hence they can't do wrong. All must submit!

It means that the Confederacy was never a country in anyone's eyes but its own (which makes it being invaded by the government everyone sees as controlling it an impossibility). To further explain what others clearly see - you can't invade your own land, even if it does have confederate defector treason-ists residing there and claiming control.

And it then lost - badly - as a warrior. In a war it started, against an opponent that didn't even have a way to draft or enlist an army for this war, even after it was attacked.

"The war began on April 12, 1861, when Confederate artillery fired on Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina. In the ten weeks between the fall of Fort Sumter and the convening of Congress in July 1861, Lincoln began drafting men for military service, approved a naval blockade of Southern ports, and suspended the writ of HABEAS CORPUS. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld Lincoln's authority to take these actions in the Prize cases, 67 U.S. (2 Black) 635, 17 L. Ed. 459; 70 U.S. (3 Wall.) 451, 18 L. Ed. 197; 70 U.S. (3 Wall.) 514, 18 L. Ed. 200; 70 U.S. 559, 18 L. Ed. 220 (1863). The Court concluded that the president had the authority to resist force without the need for special legislative action.

Answer

Here's a serious answer.

The South had many advantages and many disadvantages.

Advantages

Leadership: The southern states had, for many years, dominated the highest ranks of the US military. As a result, it was much easier for a Southerner to be promoted than for a Northerner. The Mexican-American War demonstrated quite amply that both the North and the South were producing high-quality officers, but most of the Northerners left the military after the Mexican-American War because there were few opportunities for them.

As a result, at the opening of the Civil War, the South had a larger cadre of professional and experienced officers than the North. Over time, this advantage waned until there was no advantage for either side. Grant, Sherman, Sheridan, Hancock, Reynolds, and Pap Thomas were easily among the war's best generals, and the equals of any general the South had, though one could make an argument that Lee was the best tactical commander of the war.

Strategic goals: The South didn't have to defeat the North. It only had to stay on the defensive and wear out the North's willingness to bleed for reunion. Being on the defensive also gave the South interior lines of communication, and an easier supply situation, generally. Supplies were closer to the army, though the South often had a deficit of wagons, engines, rolling stock, and draft animals to move those supplies. this also meant that any invading army had to deal with Southern partisans attacking their supply lines, most notable of which was probably John Mosby.

Geography: Much of the western South was heavily forested with only the most rudimentary roads. in order to ensure supply, attacking armies often had to fight their way down rivers, taking one fortress at a time, in a very slow progression. On the eastern front, the Shenandoah Valley made a good invasion route for the south, because it is aimed at Washington and the farm lands of Maryland and Pennsylvania, its eastern range providing good cover to an invading force. The North, on the other hand, would gain very little from attacking down the Valley (until the scorched earth policy toward the war's end). This meant that the North always had to keep a force ready at Washington and/or at the northern mouth of the Valley in case of invasion.

Knowledge of terrain: Most of the Civil War was fought in the South, and the South won more than one battle there because they understood the terrain and roads better than the Northern officers. For instance, Stonewall Jackson's flanking move at Chancellorsville was perceived by Hooker to be a retreat when, in fact, it was a movement west instead of south. Conversely, Longstreet's and Hood's attack on the Union left at Little Round Top was delayed because the initial road taken would have exposed troop movements to enemy observation. The delay allowed the Union to shore up its defenses on Little Round Top and hold off (barely) Hood's assault.

Morale: Initially, as others have pointed out, defending one's own territory tends to provide a morale boost. As the war dragged on and sufficient food and the possibility of winning became equally unlikely, Confederate soldiers deserted in droves.

Horses: Initially, horses bred in the South were superior to those bred in the North, and Confederate cavalry had the upper hand. By the Battle of Yellow Tavern in 1864, this advantage had disappeared, never to be regained.

Cotton: Britain's and France's cloth-making industries relied on Southern cotton, improving the chance of intervention from one or both of those countries on the South's side.

Disadvantages

Industry: Only Richmond had much industry at all, and had the only iron works in the South. As a result, the South had to import almost all of its gunpowder and weapons from abroad. Economically, the South basically produced agricultural commodities (cotton, tobacco, and indigo) and exported these commodities for finished goods. In order to meet its need for finished goods, the South would have to continue trading on the high seas, which was a problem because,

No Navy or naval tradition: The North had the Navy and the naval tradition, which meant its shipyards could build new fleets and man them with seasoned sailors. With these fleets and sailors, they could blockade Southern ports and cut the inflow of finished goods to a trickle. Any long-term war could be won simply because the South would not have enough manufactured goods to compete.

Inadequate roads and railroads: While inadequate roads slowed invasion, they also made resupplying Southern troops problematic. In addition, interior lines of communication made it easier for the South to move troops from one trouble spot to another, in theory, but the lack of railroads, rolling stock, skilled railroad personnel, and the varying gauges and poor condition of Southern railroads reduced this advantage to a minimum. Eventually, lack of railroads would make it impossible for Lee to resupply his troops in Petersburg, leading to the march to Appomatox.

Education: The South lacked trained engineers and artisans. Widespread illiteracy reduced the number of men who could assume officer and noncom roles, no matter how well they had performed in battle.

Manpower: Put simply, the South was badly outnumbered, even when taking into account the fact that slave labor would allow wealthier white Southerners to join the army.

First answer by Klox. Last edit by Jonrgrover. Contributor trust: 2 [recommend contributor]. Question popularity: 610 [recommend question]