TIMELINE
January 1, 1863
Emancipation
Proclamation
July 1-3, 1863
Battle of Gettysburg
July 4, 1863
Battle of Vicksburg
November 19, 1863
Gettysburg Address
March 1864
Ulysses Grant put in
charge of all Union
armies
Battle of Vicksburg
Date:
May 18-July 4, 1863
Location: Vicksburg sits on top of a hill
overlooking a sharp turn on the
Mississippi River
Details: Union victory at Vicksburg –
•Split Confederacy in half
•Gave Union control of Mississippi River
Effect of Union victory at Vicksburg
•Hurt southern morale
•Earned Ulysses Grant promotion to head of all Union armies
Union General:
Union Casualties:
Ulysses S. Grant
4, 536
Confederate General: John C. Pemberton
Confederate Casualties:
31,277
General Ulysses S. Grant
put Vicksburg under
siege and constant
bombardment, causing
residents to live in
caves.
Union ships had to slow
down to make the turn on
the river near Vicksburg. This
made them vulnerable to
the guns at Vicksburg.
Most of the terrain in and around Vicksburg
consists of steep, tree-covered hills.
There are over 1300 monuments at the battle
site, over 20 miles of trenches, and a 16-mile
paved road that loops around the battlefield
today.
Battle of Gettysburg
Date:
July 1-3, 1863
Location: Just north of the Pennsylvania-Maryland border; the only major battle fought in a
free state
Union General: George Meade
Confederate General: Robert E. Lee
Important Details:
Union Casualties:
•Deadliest battle of the war (over 50,000 casualties)
•Turns tide of the war in favor of the Union
•Confederacy never had enough men and supplies to attack again;
they could only defend
23,186
Confederate Casualties: 28,063
Why so Deadly?
Gettysburg Day 3 – Pickett’s Charge
•Cone-shaped bullets replace musket balls.
•This gives the advantage to the defense.
•Makes offensive charges, like Pickett’s Charge,
suicidal.
Union Army
Cemetery Ridge
•Rifles shoot farther and are more accurate.
Confederate Army
Seminary Ridge
•Springfield rifle replaced musket as main weapon.
5675 casualties out of 10,500 men
Civil War battlefields were among the
first to be photographed. Several
pictures were taken of Gettysburg
before bodies were removed from the
battlefield.
General Robert E. Lee
General George Meade
The Confederate army
suffered over 50%
casualties when General
Lee ordered his troops to
march uphill across an
open field on the third day
of Gettysburg.
Seminary Ridge
Cemetery Ridge
The Springfield rifle was
more accurate than the
musket.
Many soldiers carried
bayonets, but the
accuracy of the rifle
made them obsolete.
Less than 1% of all battle
wounds were caused by
bayonets.
Minie balls were cone-shaped bullets that were hollowed
out at the bottom. The exploding gunpowder caused the
hollowed out area to expand, allowing the grooves to catch
the rifling inside the barrel. This caused the bullet to spin,
allowing to go farther and faster.