Download Civil War Turning Points (1863)

THE CIVIL WAR:
TURNING POINTS (1863)
Pickett’s Charge, Battle of Gettysburg
Siege of Vicksburg
Emancipation Proclamation: Jan. 1, 1863
• All slaves in rebellious states “shall be then,
thenceforward, and forever free.”
• Did not include
• areas firmly under Union control (war ended)
• loyal border slave states that had never seceded
• Areas of Confederacy occupied by Union soldiers
• 3 million set free
Emancipation Proclamation - 1863
African-American Recruiting Poster
Black Troops Freeing Slaves
More Union Disasters in the East:
Fredericksburg & Chancellorsville
•
After McClellan’s blunders at the Battle of
Antietam (Sept. 1862), Lincoln replaced
McClellan with Ambrose Burnside as General
of the Army of the Potomac
•
Plan: cross the Rappahannock River and
surprise Gen. Lee’s army in Fredericksburg,
VA, which was a key Confederate link
between Richmond (35 miles south) and
Washington, DC
Battle of Fredericksburg, Dec. 13, 1862
General Burnside
attempts to take Marye’s
Heights, a hill on which
Confederate soldiers were
positioned behind a stone
wall
Battle of Fredericksburg, Dec. 13, 1862
Stone wall at Marye’s Heights
Confederate Soldier on the attacking Union troops:
“They seemed to melt like snow coming down on warm ground.”
Battle of Fredericksburg (Dec. 13, 1862):
The Result
•
Another Confederate victory and Union disaster
•
Casualties
• Union: 12,600
• Confed: 5,300 (but many were
missing…some gone home for Christmas)
•
Gen. Lee: “It is well that war is so terrible, or we
should grow too fond of it.”
And Yet Another New Union General…
• After Burnside’s suicidal tactics at Fredericksburg, Lincoln names yet
another Union general: “Fighting Joe” Hooker
Battle of Chancellorsville, April 30-May 6, 1863
Hooker’s Plan for Army of Potomac
•Feign assault on Lee’s front in Fredericksburg
•March part of army up the Rappahannock River
(west), cross, and attack Lee from rear
•70,000 men in Chancellorsville
Lee’s Plan for Army of Northern VA
•Not fooled by Hooker’s plan
•Divides force & leaves only ¼ at Fredericksburg
•Outnumbered almost 2:1
Hooker’s Blunder: “To tell the truth, I just lost confidence in Joe Hooker.”
Battle of Chancellorsville, Day 2
•
•
•
Lee divided force again, sending 28,000 men with Stonewall Jackson on 14-mile march through
dense Wilderness and around Union right flank
Hooker was convinced Jackson was retreating and did not attack Lee’s tiny remaining force
Stonewall attacks Hooker’s unsuspecting army from rear
Battle of Chancellorsville: The Result
Total Union Defeat
•Union casualties: 17,000
•Confederate casualties: 13,000
•Lincoln: “My God, My God, what
will the country say?”
South Loses Stonewall Jackson
•Jackson accidentally shot by own men
while scouting a possible night attack.
Lost his left arm.
• Lee: “He has lost his left arm,
but I have lost my right.”
•Died May 10 from pneumonia
Lee’s “Masterpiece”
•Odds were the longest (outnumbered 2:1)
•Took the greatest risk in dividing forces in
presence of superior enemy
•Kept the pressure on
Turning Points: Vicksburg &
Gettysburg (May-July 1863)
Vicksburg, MS
•“Vicksburg is the key. The war can
never be brought to a close until the key
is in our pocket.” (Lincoln)
•Throughout the spring of 1863 (2.5
months), Gen. U.S. Grant unsuccessfully
laid siege on well-fortified Vicksburg.
Finally, decided on daring plan …
Gettysburg, PA
•R.E. Lee’s Plan: invade the North and
strike Pennsylvania (Harrisburg &
Philadelphia) in order to draw troops from
the West and force Lincoln to seek peace
(and recognize the Confederacy)
Battle of Gettysburg, July 1-3, 1863
Lee’s Army of Northern VA Moves into Penn.
James Longstreet
Richard Ewell
AP Hill
Army of Potomac Follows under New General George Meade
Battle of Gettysburg, July 1-3, 1863
Gettysburg Day 1
Armies converged on
Gettysburg
By mid-afternoon,
Confederates occupied
the town and Union
had been driven south
By nightfall, Union
troops occupied the
high ground – Culp’s
Hill, Cemetery Hill, &
Little Round Top
Armies continued to
gather over the night
Gettysburg Day 2
Lee ordered heavy
assaults on Union’s
left flank (at Little
Round Top) and
right flank (at Culp’s
Mill/Cemetery Hill)
Intense fighting, but
Union holds both
flanks
Lee was sure that a
full attack on the
Union center would
work.
Gettysburg Day 3
Lee’s Mistake:
gambled everything
on an attack on the
Union center at
Cemetery Ridge
Pickett’s Charge:
13,000 men cross
field towards a stone
wall 1.5 miles away.
6,500 were killed or
captured.
Lee: “All this was
my fault.”
Longstreet: This
was the saddest day
of my life.
Gettysburg: The Result
•
Total Fought: over 165,000 (largest ever fought on the North American continent)
•
Total Casualties: ~ 51,000 ((Union: 22,807; Confederate: 28,000)
•
On July 4, 1863, Lee began
retreat to Virginia.
•
The Confederates would
never again reach so far
North --- “High Tide of the
Confederacy”
•
Note: Lincoln ordered
Meade to attack Lee’s
retreating army, but like
many of his predecessors,
Meade refused
Vicksburg, May-July 4, 1863
In 3 weeks, Grant’s men
marched 180 miles,
fought & won 5 battles,
and surrounded
Vicksburg, trapping
31,000 Confederates
Beginning in mid-May,
Grant begins shelling
Vicksburg everyday (200
guns on ground, gunboats
in the river)
Caves of Vicksburg “Prairie Dog Town”
Residents of Vicksburg built
caves in which to hide.
Food & supplies ran low.
Grant Takes Vicksburg, July 4, 1863
• After 48 days of siege,
Confederates surrender on
July 4, 1863 (the same day
that Lee retreats from
Gettysburg)
• The Union now controlled
the Mississippi River
• Grant becomes Union hero
Lincoln’s “Gettysburg Address” (Nov. 19, 1863)