During the American Civil War, the North and the South had different military advantages that they each tried to use to achieve victory. The North had a larger population to recruit soldiers from and more industrial capacity. This meant that the Union military was able to devote more resources and personnel to the war effort and conquer land in the Confederacy. Having more resources at hand also allowed the Union to blockade the waters surrounding the Confederacy in an attempt to economically strangle the South.

The North's goals of reunifying the country necessitated invading and occupying the Southern states. This meant that the majority of the war was fought in the South. Therefore, Union strategy was primarily an offensive one. This was an advantage for the Confederate military. Fighting on home turf meant that they were familiar with the land, had a sympathetic civilian population, and relied on shorter supply lines. The Confederate strategy depended on survival and the defense of its territory. Many Southern strategists felt that making the North bleed sufficiently in its attempt to conquer the South would be enough. This strategy proved to be a failure as the North was able to devout more to the war than the Confederates realized.

At first, the South attempted to defend its entire border with the North in order to keep the Union military out. However, they soon found that they did not have enough manpower for this strategy. Pretty soon, southern commanders switched to a more flexible strategy of defending key positions and counter-attacking when opportunities presented themselves. The thought was that if the war became too costly for the Union, they would give up. At first, this strategy was successful, largely because of the superior military leadership in the South.

In the end, the North was able to use its larger pools of soldiers and resources to conquer substantial Southern territory and economically cripple the Confederacy.