THE CIVIL WAR TURNING POINTS 1863 Picketts Charge

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 Mc. Clellan’s blunders at the Battle of Antietam (Sept. 1862), Lincoln replaced Mc. Clellan 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 Scott Halleck Mc. Dowell Mc. Clellan Pope

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, 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 wellfortified 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)