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THE CIVIL WAR
The Tide of War Turns
Section 5
P536-543
Fredericksburg and
Chancellorsville
• Frustrated by
McClellan’s lack
of aggressiveness,
Lincoln replaced
him with Ambrose
Burnside
• Burnside attacked Confederate troops at
Fredericksburg, Virginia.
• Six times Burnside launched frontal
assaults on Confederate positions.
• The Union army suffered nearly 13,000
casualties, twice the number suffered by
Lee's men.
• After the
defeat at
Fredericksburg,
Lincoln
replaced
Burnside with
Joseph Hooker.
• In May 1863, Hooker tried to attack Lee's
forces from a side (flanking) position.
• In just ten minutes, Confederate forces
routed the Union army at the Battle of
Chancellorsville.
• “Stonewall” Jackson was shot by his own
men and died from a blood clot and
pneumonia.
Battle of Gettysburg
• Largest and bloodiest battle of Civil War
• More than 51,000 soldiers were killed,
wounded, captured, or went missing in three
days.
• It was an important victory for the Union
because it stopped Lee’s plan of invading the
North.
• First Day
• Lee’s forces were gathered at Gettysburg,
Pennsylvania, on July 1, 1863.
• Ran into Union forces under General George
G. Meade, beginning the Battle of Gettysburg
• Union took up defensive positions
• Second Day
• Lee ordered attack on Union troops on Little
Round Top.
• Both sides fought viciously for control.
• Union forces held off Confederates.
• Third Day
• Lee planned attack on center of Union line.
• General George Pickett led 15,000 men in
Pickett’s Charge, a failed attack on Cemetery
Ridge.
• Lee began planning retreat to Virginia.
Aftermath of Gettysburg
Turning Point
• Gettysburg was turning point of war—Lee would
never again attack in the North.
• Some 23,000 Union and 28,000 Confederate
casualties
• Victory came the same day as the Union capture of
Vicksburg.
Gettysburg Address
• Lincoln gave speech called Gettysburg Address at
dedication of battlefield cemetery.
• He praised bravery of Union soldiers and renewed
commitment to winning the war.
Wilderness Campaign
• Lincoln was impressed with Grant’s victories; gave him
command of Union army.
– Grant forced Lee to fight series of battles in Virginia that
stretched Confederate soldiers and supplies to limit.
• Wilderness Campaign: series of battles designed to capture
Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia, in 1864.
– Grant kept moving toward Richmond but suffered huge
casualties.
– Failure to capture Richmond by election of 1864
distressed Lincoln.
• Lincoln needed a
victory from the
Union army to help
him win reelection in
1864
• General William
Tecumseh Sherman’s
campaign to destroy
South’s railroads and
industries provided
Lincoln his victory.
• Sherman left Tennessee with 100,000 men.
• Sherman’s troops marched south from
Tennessee in the spring on 1864 to Capture
Atlanta, Georgia.
• Sherman practiced Total War, destroying
civilian and economic resources, hoping it
would ruin the south’s economy.
• He hoped this would speed an end to the war.
• Sherman believed defeating the
Confederate Army was not enough.
• The railroads, factories, and farms
that supported those armies must
also be destroyed.
• “The will of the people must be
crushed.”
• Sherman urged Lincoln and Grant to
allow him to march through the
South, living off the land and
destroying all resources not needed
by his army.
• They thought it was a risky move since Hood’s
army was close.
• Sherman sent half his men with George
Thomas to pursue Hood.
• With the other half he would march.
• “I will move through Georgia, smashing things
to the sea…I can make the march, and make
Georgia Howl!”
• Sherman’s troops burned everything
of military value in Tennessee and
Mississippi.
• Now they would do the same in
Atlanta, burning 1/3 of the City.
• Sherman did not wait long to begin his
next campaign.
• His goal was the port city of Savannah,
Georgia.
• Sherman ordered his troops to destroy
railways, bridges, crops, livestock, and
other resources.
• They burned plantations and freed
slaves.
• When Sherman reached Savannah he
left behind a path of destruction 60
miles wide.
• Sherman’s March led to southern
anger that would last for
generations.
• Sherman plans to head toward Richmond,
VA.
• He must go through South Carolina to get
there.
• “I’m Going to march to Richmond.....and
when I go through South Carolina it will
be one of the most horrible things in the
history of the world. The devil himself
couldn’t restrain my men in that state.”
• "I have never burnt a house down
yet, but if we go into South Carolina I
will burn some down if I can get the
chance."
Federal soldier
• "Today commences the
destruction of South Carolina,
and we gave her a good
initiation."
Wisconsin officer
• Speed and efficiency were his objectives.
• He avoided conflicts and moved fast.
• The Confederates were scared and
confused because they didn’t know
where Sherman would show up.
• At least a dozen towns were burned
to the ground.
• There is controversy as to how the
fires started at Columbia.
• More farms and homes were
destroyed than could be counted.
• Foragers took anything they could
get their hands on.
• The railroad system in South Carolina
was wiped out.
• Sections up to 40 miles long were
destroyed.
• Sherman had marched nearly
unopposed through the heart of the
Confederacy.
• When word spread, the people of
South Carolina began to call Sherman
the Devil.
• "Sherman has come: he is knocking at
the gate. Oh God! Turn him back!
Fight on our side and turn him
back"!:
A young confederate girl in Columbia, South Carolina.
• "I don’t see any horns. You are
supposed to have horns."
A child's answer to Sherman's question of why he
repeatedly was staring at his head.
Appomattox
• Grant broke through Confederate defenses at
Petersburg, Virginia, and Lee retreated to
Richmond on April 2, 1865.
• Grant surrounded Lee’s army.
• Lee surrendered to Grant at the small town of
Appomattox Courthouse, Virginia, on April 9,
1865.
Casualties
• Killed and mortally wounded in
combat
• Union: 111,904
• Confederate: 94,000
• Total: 205,904
• Died of Disease
• Union: 197,388
• Confederate: 140,000
• Total: 337,388
• Died in Prison
• Union: 30,192
• Confederate: 26,000
• Total: 56,192
• Various Deaths
• Union: 24,881
• Confederate: N/A
• Total: 24,881
• Total Deaths
• Union: 364,345
• Confederate: 260,000
• Total: 624,365