March 1864—Lincoln names Grant
commander of all Union armies
 William Tecumseh Sherman replaces
Grant as commander of the western
front
 South hopes Lincoln will be defeated for
re-election in 1864
 Grant instructs Sherman to “inflict all the
damage you can against their war
resources.”
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THE WILDERNESS AND SPOTSYLVANIA
May 1864—Battle of the Wilderness (near
Chancellorsville) 100,000 Union vs. 61,000
confederates
Grant had twice the casualties as Lee but
they pushed south. Moral rose in the Union
11-day clash of battles known as The Battle
of Spotsylvania
Casualties (May 5-12)—Union 32,000;
Confederates 18,000
COLD HARBOR AND PETERSBURG
 Early June 1864—The Battle of Cold
Harbor
 Union suffers 7,000 casualties in the first 30
minutes
 Union failed to capture Petersburg (a rail
center for southern supplies)
 Lee was content to dig in his troops and
wait for the November election
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SHERMAN ON THE MOVE
 Sherman marched from Chattanooga
toward Atlanta
 Sherman’s 100,000 men slowed but not
stopped by 60,000 confederates
 Mid-July 1864 Union only 8 miles from
Atlanta
 July 20 & 22, 1864—Battles of Peachtree
Creek and Atlanta—South loses ¼ of its
army

Sherman captured the final rail line into
Atlanta
 South abandons Atlanta September 1,
1864 and the Union entered the city

Election of 1864—Democrats choose
General George McClellan; Republicans
stay with Lincoln (new V-P Dem. Andrew
Johnson)
 Lincoln thought he would lose the election
 Sherman’s capture of Atlanta changed the
outcome in Lincoln’s favor
 Congress passed the XIIIth Amendment
ending slavery in the USA on January 31,
1865
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SHERMAN’S MARCH
Sherman remained in Atlanta until after the
election
Then he sent 60,000 troops on a “march to
the sea” from Atlanta to Savannah
Troops burned Atlanta as they left
The swath of destruction was 300 miles long
and 50-60 miles wide
Soldiers slaughters livestock, destroyed
crops, tore up railroad tracks, and looted
homes and businesses
Dec. 10, 1864—Sherman’s troops arrived
in Savannah and laid siege to the city
 10,000 southern defenders slipped away
 Dec. 21, 1864—Union troops enter the
city and sent Lincoln a telegraph giving
him a Christmas present of the city of
Savannah.
 January 1865--Sherman’s troops did
major damage to private homes in South
Carolina
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THE FALL OF RICHMOND
 Sherman’s army joined Grant at
Petersburg
 They hoped to surround Lee
 Lee’s troops were low on supplies
 Grant broke through Lee’s defenses on
April 2, 1865
 Confederate leaders fled Richmond
 Grant entered on April 3, 1865
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Lee tried to escape with 13,000 troops and
meet up with another force further south.
 Grant caught up to and surrounded Lee at
Appomattox Court House, VA
 Lee decided to surrender
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SURRENDER AT APPOMATTOX
 Lee and Grant met in a house on April 9,
1865
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They chatted about their service
together as young officers in the
Mexican-American War
 Grant presented the terms of surrender
 Lee’s troops needed to turn over their
weapons and leave.
 Grant offered food for Lee’s starving
troops
 Lee told his troops to go home and
resume their lives and occupations
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Abraham Lincoln was shot at Ford’s
Theater in Washington, DC on April 14,
1865 and died the next day.
 The last of the confederate forces
surrendered on May 26, 1865
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CAUSES
 1) conflicts over slavery and states’ rights
 2) Lincoln’s election as president
 3) the secession of southern states
 4) the attack on Fort Sumter
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EFFECTS
 1) The end of slavery
 2) More than 600,000 deaths
 3) Physical and economic devastation of
the South
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