What advantages did the South have over the North in the US Civil War?

Southern Advantages (Northern Disadvantages)

Fighting a Defensive War

• To stand on the defensive meant that the North had to invade and carry the fight to the South. This allowed the South to prepare and receive the enemy, although Lee was not a passive man by any standards.

• The South did not have many advantages, but just like in the American Revolution, it's very difficult to conquer an area. Essentially the South only had to muster the will to keep fighting until the North felt like quitting. That didn't happen, but theoretically it could have.

• When Southerners said that they merely wanted to secede from the Union they gave themselves a military advantage. Thus the North had to attack.

• The geography of the South favored the defender over the attacker. In particular, most of the rivers in the South run east to west. Thus as Union forces attempted to move south they had to cross all the rivers and the Confederates could defend them. Also, the fact that the Cenfederacy was simply defending itself meant that the Northern forces had to invade and occupy virtually the entire South before they could claim victory. That was a monumental task.

Fighting Spirit

• The South had soldiers who were devoutly dedicated to preserving the Southland.

• The South were the ones who started this war, they want to finish it. They were the ones with a motive. The North just wants to put the country back together.

• The North included "border" states like Maryland which had large populations of Southern sympathizers. The North constantly had to fight to keep up popular support for the war.

• Motivation. The South was fighting to preserve their homes from an intruder. The North on the other hand was fighting to preserve the union. To abolish slavery was added later, and this was cold comfort to most Northerners who had never seen a slave before.

• The Southern population, at least the white population, were more united than that of the North. In the North there was always a substantial political sentiment, based on various reasons, for not fighting the war and letting the South go in peace.

• The North was the invader. When troops approached the end of their volunteer enlistment, they wanted to go home. The Southern troops were fighting for their style of life, so they hung in there.

Fighting on Their Own Soil

• They were fighting on mostly native territory, thus they were more familiar with the ground.

• The theater of war was primarily in the South which was its home territory. Obviously the theater of war was well known to the South. The North was in enemy territory and was unfamiliar with the terrain.

• Since the Southerners were defending their own soil they were intimately familiar with the territory while the Northerners had to rely on maps.

Military Leadership

• The majority of the best leaders were Southern born. When the South left the Union, these soldiers went with their home states.

• Military leadership of the South consisted of many Mexican War veterans. The North had some experienced officers. However the North's leadership was inferior to the South.

• Throughout the Civil War, Lincoln was trying to find generals that could win. Many say Grant was the only good general the North had.

• Lee, Stonewall Jackson, Longstreet, Forest, Stuart, the list could continue. The South was blessed with officers who knew how to fight and make the best of bad situations.

• A big portion of the Union's finer officers were from the South, and were more loyal to their home states when faced with the choice. Robert E. Lee is of course the most notable example, and would have been the first choice to command the Army of the Potomac if he had remained in the Union army.

Military Aptitude

• The average Southerner had at some point in his life hunted for food. This meant he could live off of the land, knew how to shoot and how to suffer the misery that was camp life. Many of the North's soldiers came from urban areas where they had never seen a rifle before they enlisted.

• The South had better soldiers at the beginning. At the onset of the war, the North was not prepared to fight a war.

• Military readiness of soldiers at the beginning of the war was superior in the South. Young men were accustomed to outdoor life, guns and horses that were part of rural life. The North had a large portion of immigrants and urban raised individuals not accustomed to outdoor life, guns and horses.

• They had a facility at adapting their strategies to guerilla warfare, although this tactic was overshadowed by the age old battle line which caused so much death at Gettysburg.

• The majority of Northern recruits were city born or worked on farms. They were not used to living off of the land. Southerners were used to hunting and living rough. What this meant was that the Southern troops knew how to shoot and live hard. This was something that the Northern troops had to learn over time.

Interior Lines

• The South had interior lines. By this I mean, the South could use the rail network it had to transfer troops from unthreatened theaters to those where they were needed.

• The South had short interior supply and communication lines. The North had long supply and communication lines that were exposed to the enemy.

Answer

Robert E. Lee.

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First answer by Jerry. Last edit by Jerry. Question popularity: 293 [recommend question]