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

Answer 1

The South had to play defense. All they had to do was tp protect what they already had. They didn't have to get somebody else to change. They also had Robert E Lee and Stonewall Jackson as generals. Lee was the only West Point cadet to have a perfect record. Stonewall was his right hand man.

Answer 2

Despite the North's greater population, however, the South had an army almost equal in size during the first year of the war. The North had an enormous industrial advantage as well. At the beginning of the war, the Confederacy had only one-ninth the industrial capacity of the Union

Answer 3

Not many, but just like the American Revolution, its 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.the south alos was fighting on their land like someone else answered,'not many'. the south did have soldiers who were devoutly dedicated to preserving the southland. 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 south had better trained genrals than north The South were the ones who started this war, they want to finish it. Thry were the ones with a motive. The North just wants to put the country back together.

Answer 4

The South was defending their homelands and so they had knowledge of the terrain, and had the motive to actively fight for their homeland. Said in another way, one large advantage was that the South did not have to capture the Union. To win, the only needed to simply quit the war and let the South be independent. Also, since the North, to win, would be faced with attacking and holding on to vast tracts of land. The South was huge, bigger than France and Germany combined.

These advantages allowed the South to continue the war even though it was badly outnumbered in troops compared to the Union.

Answer 5

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.(But it did not, for multiple reasons. Including the lack of previsions, lack in number of men, & a superior navy & rail road system.)

• 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 North did not attack first, the South did.)

• 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.(The North had a 3 part plan to defeat the South. 1) blockade the south 2) split the south using the MR river 3) take control of the capital of the confederates. Geographically speaking, the South was exposed.)

Fighting Spirit

• The South had soldiers who were devoutly dedicated to preserving the Southland.(They wanted to preserve the individuals rights. They also wanted to start the Confederacy, which would hold the state's rights over the federal control.)

• 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. (How this is a advantage is unclear.)

• 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. (This is an advantage? For the Confederate states?)

• 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.(Not completely true, the boarder lines of states were general. Supporters for the South could be found in the North, and vise verse.)

• 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. (Draft was placed on both sides.)

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.(Guerilla warfare was not practiced yet. Ambuses were, surprise attacks. The battle line was tossed aside as a poor battle strategy in the Revolutionary War, the British used it & the Rebels used cover.)

• 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 North had the railroad system, the North was further industrialized. The South had little to no rail road system.)

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

Firearms Experience * Southern individuals often contained substantial hunting experience, and more substantial proficiency with firearms than Northerners as hunting was a facet of Southern culture.

They fought on their own soil, so they did not have to travel far to the battle grounds

They had better generals, like Robert E. Lee, and the famous Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson

The south grew cotton, which Europe needed.

They got money from plantation crops

Most of their soldiers were farmers, so they were strong.

They had raw materials, which the north could not make things without south's raw materials.

The weather was also an advantage, since it was cold, northern soldiers slowed down and had to wait out snow storms

The south could position troops and repair their defenses while North waited for spring.

Answer 6

Clear, emotive mission - to defend the homeland against the invader.

Most battles were on home territory, unfamiliar to the enemy.

Southerners were more experienced in the riding and shooting way of life.

Many of the best officers had quit the US Army to join the Confederates.

Britain and France were sympathetic to the Confederate cause.

Answer 7

The major advantages of the South was the fact that they were defending their home land. They didn't have to invade unfamiliar land unlike the North, they were being defensive. They also had great war leaders and good horse riding and gun shooting skills.

Answer 8

The main advantage the south had was that in order to "win" - to gain their goal - all they had to do was not lose in the meantime. Eventually, like the British during the American Revolution, the north might tire of the carnage and give up and let them go. This in fact looked quite near to happening in 1864. Conversely, for the north to "win" they had to invade, conquer and subjugate a huge area full of hostile people, which is a much more formidable task than just enduring, as the south had to do. Another southern advantage was "interior lines". The north, having to attack, had to try to get at the south from various approaches around the edge of the southern Confederacy. In theory the Confederates could move men from place to place to meet these threats, and since these movements were done inside the Confederacy they were of a shorter distance than northern troops having to move around the outside edge of the Confederacy on "exterior lines" to concentrate to make an attack. This actually did work to the Confederate advantage a time or two, notably at Chickamauga in 1863. But the Union had the edge in railroad and steamboat transportation, while the Rebels were on foot or on creaky, dilapidated railroad trains which didn't always have tracks going where they needed to go, so the potential advantage was not as great as it otherwise would have been. At the time many people thought that the southerners were hardy, outdoorsy people, raised in the country as opposed to being city dwellers, used to riding horses and shooting guns. This was thought to be an edge, and perhaps it was against northern troops from the big cities. But the northern troops from the midwest were equally farm boys used to the outdoors.

Answer 9

The Southern states involved in the War between the States or as it's better known, the US Civil War, had an important advantage. In terms of the Confederacy's overall goals, the advantage lay in the fact that Southern armies did not have to stage a war of revolution and take over the Union states. An outsider becoming just interested in the war, would note the terminology of "civil war" and assume at first the war was one that would decide which side would take over the Federal government.The war was not about that at all.

The South wanted its independence from the USA and become the Confederate States of America. Therefore, for the most part, it had the advantage of fighting an offensive war. In doing so, it would require the Union forces to mount offensives in Southern territory. Territory that was better known by its defenders, the Southern armed forces. In line with having to conduct an offensive war, this would require more soldiers to attack and capture and hold onto. The question would become how well could the Union forces do this? Additionally there was a psychological advantage for the South. Confederate soldiers for fighting for their very existence as an independent nation. If they lost, their way of life would be dominated by Northern politicians. On the other hand, the Union soldiers knew that if the South did win in the conflict, the Union soldiers could return home. The United States without the 11 rebellious states could continue to exist and prosper.

Answer 10

It would be more nearly correct to state that the military leaders of the South were far superior to those of the North. General Winfield Scott had offered command of Union forces to Robert E. Lee, who declined because his conscience would not let him fight against his native Virginia.

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