Download Chapter 19 – Section 5 – The Tide of the War Turns In May 1863

Chapter 19 – Section 5 – The Tide of the War Turns
In May 1863, General Lee’s troops defeated a larger Union force near the
town of Chancellorsville, Virginia. In addition to the stunning victory at
Chancellorsville, the Confederates also triumphed at Fredericksburg, Virginia.
These successes encouraged General Lee to launch another offensive into Union
territory. As before, his goals were to break the North’s will to fight and to capture
much needed supplies for his army. Lee hoped that another victory would turn the
tide of war in the Confederacy’s favor.
In mid-June 1863, Lee cut across northern Maryland into southern
Pennsylvania. Lee’s forces gathered near a small town called Gettysburg. Lee was
unaware that Union soldiers were just northwest of the town. When a Confederate
raiding party went to Gettysburg for supplies, the troops came under fire. This
event triggered the Battle of Gettysburg. Some 75,000 Confederate soldiers faced
about 90,000 Union troops.
The battle began on July 1, 1863. The Confederates pushed the Union line
back to Cemetery Ridge, just south of the town. The Confederate forces occupied
nearby Seminary Ridge. On July 2, Lee ordered an attack on the left side of the
Union line. The bold charge of Union colonel Joshua Chamberlain’s troops at Little
Round Top, however, helped turn back the Confederates. Then General George G.
Meade placed more soldiers on the Union line.
Lee planned to rush the center of the Union line. This task fell to three
divisions of Confederate soldiers. General George Pickett commanded the largest
unit. In the late afternoon, about 14,000 men took part in Pickett’s Charge up
Cemetery Ridge. The attack was a disaster. Fewer than half of Pickett’s troops
reached the top of the ridge. All those who reached the Union wall were captured or
killed. Only about 6,500 men returned to the Confederate rear. Lee ordered Pickett
to organize his division for a possible counterattack.
Rain slowed Meade’s troops, allowing Lee to retreat from Gettysburg on July
4 and return to Virginia. Nonetheless, Gettysburg was a turning point in the war.
Lee’s troops would never again launch an attack onto northern soil. The Union
victory at Gettysburg took place on the same day as General Grant’s capture of
Vicksburg, MS. These critical victories made northerners believe that the
Confederacy could be defeated. The Union triumph at Gettysburg, however, had
come at a high price. Union casualties numbered more than 23,000. The
Confederacy suffered more than 28,000 casualties.
President Lincoln expressed the Union’s new sense of confidence and
commitment. He delivered the Gettysburg Address on November 19, 1863. This
short, moving speech is one of the most famous in American history. Lincoln spoke
of the importance of liberty, equality, and democratic ideals. He reminded listeners
that the war was being fought to protect these cherished principles. Lincoln
dedicated himself and the rest of the North to winning the war and preserving the
Union. He knew that a difficult road still lay ahead.
Lincoln was impressed with General Grant’s successes at Vicksburg and in
the West. He brought Grant to the East and gave him command of the Union army.
In early 1864 Grant forced Lee to fight a series of battles in Virginia that stretched
Confederate soldiers and supplies to their limits.
From May through June, the opposing armies fought a series of battles in
northern and central Virginia. Union troops launched the Wilderness Campaign
with about 100,000 men against 70,000 Confederates. The first battle took place in
early May about 50 miles northwest of Richmond. Grant then ordered General
Meade southeast to Spotsylvania. There the fighting raged for 10 days. Over the
next month, Union soldiers pressed the Confederate troops back to just north of
Richmond. The Battle of Cold Harbor took place for 2 days, only 10 miles northeast
of Richmond. It was Grant’s worst defeat of the campaign. During one brief assault
some 7,000 Union troops were killed or wounded. The battle ended Grant’s plans to
advance on the Confederate capital.
Union forces suffered incredible losses in the Wilderness Campaign, with
twice as many casualties as their Confederate opponents. Even so, Grant continued
his aggressive strategy. He knew he would be getting additional soldiers, but that
Lee was running low on troops. Grant slowly but surely pressed forward.
After Cold Harbor, Grant moved south of Richmond. He had hoped to take
the key railroad junction at Petersburg, Virginia. Lee’s army, however, formed a
solid defense. Grant called off his attack and prepared to lay siege to Petersburg.
Grant was winning the war, but he had not captured Richmond. This failure was
discouraging for Lincoln.
Lincoln needed a victory to help him win re-election in 1864. The bold
campaign of General William Tecumseh Sherman provided this key victory.
Sherman carried out the Union plan to destroy southern railroads and industries. In
the spring of 1864, Sherman marched south from Tennessee with 100,000 troops.
His goal was to take Atlanta, Georgia. From May through August, Sherman’s army
moved steadily through the Appalachian Mountains toward Atlanta. Several times,
Sherman avoided defenses set up by Confederate general Joseph Johnston.
In July Sherman was within sight of Atlanta. His troops drove back
Confederate forces trying to protect the city. The Confederate troops retreated as
Sherman held Atlanta under siege. Atlanta fell to Sherman on September 2, 1864.
Much of the city was destroyed by artillery and fire. Sherman ordered the residents
who still remained to leave. The loss of Atlanta cost the South an important railroad
link and center of industry. The victory also showed northerners that progress was
being made in defeating the South. This success helped convince Union voters to reelect Lincoln in a landslide.
Shortly after the election, General Sherman began his next attack. His goal
was the port city of Savannah, Georgia. In mid-November 1864 Sherman left Atlanta
with a force of about 60,000 men. He said that he would “make Georgia howl!”
On his March to the Sea, Sherman waged total war, destroying both civilian
and military resources. Sherman felt that total war would ruin the South’s economy
and its ability to fight. He ordered his troops to destroy railways, bridges, crops,
livestock, and other resources. They burned plantations and freed slaves.
Sherman’s army reached Savannah on December 10, 1864. They left behind them a
wide path of destruction more than 250 miles long. Sherman believed his tactics
would hasten the end of the war.
In early April Sherman closed in on the last Confederate defenders in North
Carolina. Grant finally broke through the Confederate defenses at Petersburg. On
April 2, Lee was forced to retreat from Richmond. As Union troops poured into the
Confederate capital, the final days of the war began.
By the second week of April 1865, Grant had surrounded Lee’s army and
demanded its surrender. Lee hoped to join the remaining Confederates in North
Carolina, but Grant cut off his escape just west of Richmond. Trapped in the small
town of Appomattox Courthouse, Lee concluded that the situation was hopeless.
The Union and Confederate leaders met on Palm Sunday, April 9, 1865.
There Lee signed the surrender documents, ending the long bloody war. Grant later
wrote that he found the scene at Appomattox Courthouse more tragic than joyful.
The Civil War had deep and lasting effects. Almost 620,000 Americans lost
their lives in the four years of fighting. It was the most costly conflict in American
history. Bitterness over the war would linger in both the North and the South for
many years as the nation tried to heal its wounds and rebuild.