Chapter 15  Section 5

Lincoln and his generals change the tide of the war.

Confederate Victories

Battle of Fredericksburg(Virginia)

General Ambrose Burnside(UNION) ordered a charge of his troops- thousands ran directly into Confederate gunfire causing the Union to suffer great losses.

Battle of Chancellorsville(Virginia)

General Joseph Hooker(UNION) was confident that he would be victorious. His army was CRUSHED in this battle by an army half its size.

*** Confederacy paid a tremendous price for this victory - STONEWALL JACKSON was killed by friendly fire.***

Tide turns in favor of the Union

Battle of Gettysburg(Pennsylvania)

General George Meade(UNION) led troops in a 3-day battle.

General Lee(CONFEDERACY)ordered an attack on the center of Union line.

General George Pickett(CONFEDERACY)led 15,000 Confederates into an open field, exposing them to Union gunfire.

*The bloodiest battle ever fought on American soil.  This battle was a purely unplanned accident that grew out of a desperate need for soldiers’ shoes*

Battle of Vicksburg:

Vicksburg, Mississippi fell to Union General Ulysses S. Grant( after he laid siege to the city for 2 months)

Grant’s victory at Vicksburg and Lee’s defeat at Gettysburg turned the tide of the war in favor of the Union.

Gettysburg Address- November 19, 1863

Famous 3 minute speech delivered by Lincoln at the consecration of Soldiers’ National Cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania(Now called The Gettysburg National Cemetery)

-Gave a clear statement of what the war was all about.

-delivered to honor soldiers who died there.

-delivered this speech in anticipation of a final Union victory.

***Dedication speech is one of the most popular speeches given by a President***

Final Battles

Grant was given complete charge of Union army

Grant marched toward Confederate capital(Richmond, Virginia)losing several battles along the way.  Union army had the advantage of replenishing troops quickly due to the railroad.

Lee was running out of troops and supplies.

Grant uses a Siege at Petersburg, Virginia, while William Tecumseh Sherman(UNION) drove his army across the South using TOTAL WAR to defeat the Confederates.

Sherman’s March to the Sea destroyed land and resources on the way to the Atlantic Ocean.  Grant captured Richmond.

**By 1865 - Parts of the South lay in ruin because of TOTAL WAR STRATEGY**

Battle of Appomattox Court House

In a last-ditch effort, on the morning of April 9, 1865, the Confederacy mounted an offensive that seemed successful at first, but proved futile as the Confederates saw that they were hopelessly outnumbered!  This lasted only a few hours, was one of the last battles of the Civil War, and effectively brought the Civil War to an end.

April 9, 1865, near the town of  Appomattox Courthouse, Virginia, Confederate General Lee surrendered his troops to Union General Grant.

Grant offered Lee generous surrender terms.

EFFECTS OF THE CIVIL WAR

Bloodiest conflict ever fought by the United States on American soil.

Total loss of life - Approximately 620,000

MAIN RESULT: UNION REUNITED AND SLAVERY ENDED