GOAL #18A
Victory at the
Battle of
Gettysburg helps
decide the winner
of the Civil War
I. Vicksburg, MS – May to July 4, 1863
o Last major Rebel holdout on Mississippi River
o On high bluff – Grant unsuccessfully attacked 5 times
o Grant lays siege – (surround a city until the people are
starved out and surrender). Rebel mayor said,
“Mississippians don’t know how and refuse to learn how to
surrender”
o Vicksburg held out for 6 months.
II. Gettysburg, PA July 1-3, 1863
oLee launched 2nd
invasion of the north
o ---break Union’s will to
fight
o---needed supplies
o---big victory would
convince France & Great
Britain to help
Lee – 75,000
George Meade – 83,000
o Lee’s men, looking for
shoes, stumble across
Meade’s army
o Rebel army chased Union
defenders through the town
o Union army takes up
position on Cemetery Ridge
o Reinforcements for both
sides arrived through the
night
2nd Day
o Lee tried to encircle Union
forces –
o Despite vicious fighting,
they held onto Little Round
Top
Day 3
o Lee sent Gen. Pickett to charge at Union center – failed with
massive losses (1/2 of his men in 50 minutes)
o South lost 28,000 men – Lee said “All this has been my fault”
o Lee’s army limps back
to VA
14 mile long wagon train
of wounded
Despite Union losses
of 23,000; victory for
North because Lee
forced to retreat
o
o Gen. Meade fired for
letting Lee’s army
escape
III. Sherman’s March to the Sea Campaign, 1864
o 100,000 troops marched south from TN
o Captured major cities – Atlanta and Savannah, GA
o Practiced “total war” – destroyed everything in his
path (would help bring speedy end by ruining
economy)
IV. Election of 1864
Lincoln
McClellan
Sherman’s victories helped Lincoln win the
election
Lincoln’s 2nd Inaugural Address
o Lincoln looked to the future – “With malice (hatred) toward
none, with charity (forgiveness) for all . . Let us strive to
finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation’s wounds. . .”
V. Grant Chases Lee
May 1864 – April 1865
oGrant named head of all U.S. forces
o Wages bloody battles in VA forcing Lee’s depleted army
to retreat further & further south towards Richmond
Grant
Lee
April 3, 1865
o Lee abandoned Richmond so his army
would not be captured
oGrant’s Union Army marched into
Confederate capital
VI. The End -April 9, 1865
o Lee refused to engage in guerilla warfare tactics and surrendered
his army to Grant
Wilmer McLean house – Civil
War began in his backyard &
ended in his parlor
o President Jefferson Davis
captured trying to flee south &
thrown into prison
o Confederate States of America
ceases to exist