Grant tries a number of ways to get around
Vicksburg
Running the gauntlet--in April 1863
Grant crossed the river and began moving eastward,
May 1
Confederate commander at Vicksburg, John C.
Pemberton, in a desparate situation
Grant disappears, then he reestablishes contact
with the world on May
After several Federal attacks against the
city's defenses fail over the next week, Grant lays siege to Vicksburg
July 4, 35,000 man garrison surrenders
July 8, Port Hudson surrenders
"The Queen of all waters now runs unvexed
to the sea"
Chancellorsville Campaign
"Fighting Joe" Hooker takes command and gets
jump on Lee with almost twice the number of men as Lee
Lee counters, Hooker freezes then withdraws
The wounding and death of Jackson (dies May
10)
Gettysburg campaign
Decision to move north
discussion about sending part of army west
By first of June, Lee decides to move North
Start of the invasion
Lee begins his move
Lee moves to the Valley and northward, Federal
army follows
Stuart's long ride
Lee moves into Pennsylvania
The armies maneuver
Meade takes command of the Army of the Potomac
Army of Northern Virginia in Pennsylvania
Prelude to the battle
Gettysburg
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Retreat from Pennsylvania
Casualties
Lee's casualties numbered over 26,000 total
Union losses included 23,000
The second turning point
Impact of Gettysburg and Vicksburg on morale
A second turning point of the war
Chickamauga and Chattanooga
Rosecrans takes Chattanooga
Chickamauga--the hollow, bloody victory along
the river of death
The siege of Chattanooga (late Sept. - early
Nov.)
Breaking the siege--Nov. 24-25
Lee and Meade maneuver in the East, mostly
quiet
II. To the End
Grant Takes Command
Grant's attempt at a coordinated strategy
Grant sought to deliver an all out attack
on the Confederacy
Attack on all fronts, to prevent one part
of Confederacy from reinforcing another
Plans for attack
East
Army of the Potomac--follow Lee
Sigel--Move from WVA to Shenandoah Valley
Butler--Move from Fortress Monroe with 30,000
men to threaten Richmond from the south and cut the capital's supply lines
West
Sherman--Go after Joe Johnston Army of Tennessee
Banks--move east from New Orleans, take Mobile
and then go through Alabama
Failure of Grant's sideshows
Virginia Campaigns of 1864
The 40 days
First Moves--Into the Wilderness (May 5-6)
Race for Spotsylvania
"If it takes all summer"--Spotsylvania Courthouse
The Mule Shoe--May 12
Final attempts to break Lee's lines (May 14-19)
To Cold Harbor
Lee digs in at Cold Harbor
June 3--Fifteen minutes of futility
Grant gives Lee the slip
June 12-13, Grant slips across the James
Lee loses contact with Grant
Finds out where Grant is when Beauregard begins
screaming for help on June 15
Petersburg
Importance of the city as rail center
Defenses--Beauregard, trenches, and 2,500
men
The blown chance
Storming the walls
The Crater -- July 30
Grant begins to extend the trench lines
Siege begins--will last 8 months
Lee can no longer go on offensive
Marching through Georgia
Atlanta Campaign
The opponents
Union Army--consisted of three separate armies
under command of William T. Sherman--totalled 100,000
Confederate Army--under command of Joseph
Johnston (about 60,000)
Both armies are limited in their ability to
maneuver because they are tied to the Western and Atlantic RR as means
of supply
Early battles in northern Georgia
Rocky Face Ridge defensive line
Sherman attacks and flanks
Kennesaw Mountain--June 27 (3,000 Fed. cas.
vs. 500 Confed.)
Johnston falls back to Atlanta
Hood replaces Johnston
3 battles, July 20, 22, and 28
Hood loses 13,000 men in these 3 battles,
compared with 6,000 by the Union
Hood's losses in 9 days were more than Johnston
had lost in over two months
morale in southern army declined and desertions
decreased--soldiers felt Hood was sending them to the slaughter
Siege of Atlanta
Atlanta falls
The Third Turning Point
War weariness in the North
McClellan for President
Impact of military campaigns on presidential
race
For the duration
March to the Sea
Sherman states "War is cruelty and you cannot
refine it."
Purpose of the march
Sherman realizes that to defeat the South,
its will and capacity to wage war must be destroyed--total war
Sherman proposes to make war on Georgia
to destroy the psychological will of its people to fight
Proposes marching straight through the heart
of the state, living off the land and destroying what he couldn't use
Sherman's plan
Sherman decides to take 60,000 men through
Georgia and make it howl during a 285 mile march to Savannah
Convinces nervous Grant to let him try the
plan--even though it appeared very dangerous on paper (despite lack of
organized opposition)
Path of destruction 50 miles wide
Nov. 15, Sherman leaves Atlanta after burning
all of military value in the city--and a good portion of the rest (what
hadn't been destroyed earlier when Confederates left)
Army moved in two main columns spread over
a 50 mile front
Only once during the march to the sea were
they confronted--at Milledgeville--where they met militia scraped together
of mostly old men and boys
Although only official foraging parties were
to leave and get food for the army, orders were widely disobeyed
Much destruction also done by deserters, stragglers,
and Confederate cavalry and militia
Slaves flock to the army
at one point or another, over 25,000 blacks
joined the army's columns as it marched east
many did not survive the trip--either dropped
out or were killed (discuss episode of bridge in swamp and Confederate
cavalry)
only about 7,000 actually reached Savannah
with the army
Sherman presents Lincoln with Savannah as
a "Christmas present"
Sherman got to the coast on Dec. 10, made
contact with the Union navy--Grant greatly relieved (first official word
from Sherman in four weeks)
Confederate garrison evacuated Savannah on
Dec. 21, before federal troops could surround city (Sherman unconcerned)
Sherman present Savannah to Lincoln as a Christmas
present, with 150 heavy artillery pieces, lots of ammunition, and 25,000
bales of cotton (high value)
Victory celebrations all over the North
Sherman in the Carolinas
Sherman leaves Savannah in mid-January 1865
South Carolina
North Carolina
Fall of Petersburg
Winter operations
Lee tries desparate gamble
Breakthrough and collapse of Petersburg
Appomattox and Bennett's Station
Retreat from Petersburg and Richmond
Surrender at Appomattox -- April 9
Johnston surrenders to Sherman on April 26
Lincoln assassinated on April 14 by John Wilkes
Booth