*By 1865, Four Years of Civil War Had Produced Hundreds of Thousands of Deaths

“Decisive Battles”

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Focus Question: How did Lincoln and his generals turn the tide of the war?

*By 1865, four years of Civil War had produced hundreds of thousands of deaths.

The Tide Turns

*After the Union victory at Antietam (1862), the war again began to go badly for the North. When McClellan failed to pursue Lee’s beaten army, Lincoln replaced him with General Ambrose Burnside.

Confederate Victories

*Burnside knew McClellan was replaced by being too cautious, so Burnside decided to do the opposite.

*Dec. 1862 – Burnside marches 120,000 Union men toward Richmond. Lee gathered 75,000 men at Fredericksburg, VA, to block their path. Burnside ordered repeated attacks and the Union suffered 13,000 casualties to the Confederacy’s 5,000 casualties.

*Lincoln then used General Joseph “Fighting Joe” Hooker who declared he would have no mercy on Lee as he marched to Richmond.

*May 1863 – Hooker’s army badly beaten at Chancellorsville by a much smaller army, but Stonewall Jackson was shot and died a few days later.

The Battle of Gettysburg

*Lee was convinced that a major victory on Union soil would convince northerners to end the war.

*June 1863 – Lee’s troops marched in PA. The Union army, now commanded by General George Meade, pursued them.

*July 1, 1863 – Confederate soldiers approached Gettysburg looking for shoes since they were difficult to get in the South due to the Union blockade. They encountered part of Meade’s army and shots were fired. By evening, southerners had pushed the Union forces back through Gettysburg.

*Next day - 85,000 Union faced 75,000 Confederates. The Union army was on Cemetery Ridge and the Confederate army was on Seminary Ridge (1 mi. away). The Confederates attacked each end of the Union line.

*On July 3 (3rd day of fighting) – Lee ordered an all-out attack on the center of the Union line. General George Pickett led 15,000 Confederates across an open field toward Cemetery Ridge. Union artillery rained down on them.

Only a few hundred Confederates reached the Union line but were driven back. About 7,500 Confederates were killed or wounded in “Pickett’s Charge”.

*Battle of Gettysburg – more than 28,000 Confederates casualties. Union losses were more than 23,000. Lee again lost nearly a third of his army and took the blame on himself.

The Fall of Vicksburg

*July 4, 1863 – Vicksburg surrendered to General Grant. It was one of the last cities on the Mississippi River under Confederate control. Unable to take Vicksburg by force, Grant began a siege of the city. A siege is an attempt to capture a place by surrounding it with military forces and cutting it off until the people inside surrender.

*During the siege, residents took shelter in cellars and caves they dug. They ate mules and rats. After 6 weeks, the 30,000 Confederate troops at Vicksburg gave up.

*A few days later, Port Hudson (last Confederate stronghold on the Mississippi River) gave up. The Mississippi River was not controlled by the Union.

*These events, with Lee’s defeat at Gettysburg, make July 1863 the major point of the Civil War.

The Gettysburg Address

*Nov. 19, 1863 – 15,000 people gathered at the battlefield at Gettysburg to honor those who had died. Lincoln looked ahead to a Union victory and gave the Gettysburg Address…

“…these dead shall not have died in vain –

that this nation, under God, shall have a

new birth of freedom – and that gov’t of the

people, by the people, for the people, shall

not perish from the earth.”

Closing in on the Confederacy

*1864 – Lincoln gave Grant command of all Union forces. Grant decided to attack Richmond (no matter how many Union losses of life).

Grant Versus Lee

*Spring 1864 - Grant’s army repeatedly attacked Lee in northern VA. Although Grant could not break through Lee’s troops, Grant did not retreat.

*After 7 weeks of fighting, Union deaths: 55,000;

Confederate deaths: 35,000. Grant realized that he had adequate supplies of men and supplies but Lee did not.

*June 1864 – two armies clashed at Petersburg (railroad center) and Grant began a siege (like Vicksburg).

*At the same time, General William Tecumseh Sherman marched to Atlanta. Sherman believed in total war – all-out attacks aimed at destroying an enemy’s army, its resources, and its people’s will to fight.

March to the Sea

*The Confederates could not stop Sherman’s advance and the Union marched into Atlanta on Sept. 2, 1864.

*The capture of Atlanta gave Lincoln’s reelection campaign a boost. Support for Lincoln had declined as people grew tired of war, but the capture of Atlanta gave Lincoln a huge victory over George (“the slows”) McClellan, the Democrat’s candidate.

*Nov. 1864 – Sherman orders Atlanta to be burned. His army then marches to the Atlantic Ocean and destroys everything in its path (60 miles wide!). They burned buildings, seized crops and livestock, and lifted up railroad tracks.

Peace at Last

*March 1865 – Grant’s army had been extending their battle lines east and west of Petersburg. Lee knew that soon Grant would capture the city.

*Seeing the end of the war was near, in his Second Inaugural Address, Lincoln asked Americans to forgive and forget “to bind up the nation’s wounds.”

Murder at Appomattox

*April 2, 1865 – Grant’s troops broke through Confederate lines. By evening, Richmond was under Union control. Lee’s army retreated to the town of Appomattox Court House. With any hopes of retreat cut off, Lee surrendered on

April 9, 1865.

*Grant offered Lee generous surrender terms. The Confederates only had to give up their weapons and leave in peace. As Lee rode off, Union troops cheered but Grant silenced them, saying “The war is over. The rebels are our countrymen again.”

The War’s Terrible Toll

*Civil War = bloodiest conflict the US has EVER fought.

*Deaths: Confederate – 260,000; Union > 360,000

(including 37,000 African Americans)

*About ½ million men were wounded (Many returned disfigured for life).

*TWO RESULTS:

1.) Reunited the nation

2.) Put an end to slavery