The North Takes Charge
Objectives
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Describe the events leading to the Gettysburg, the
Battle of Gettysburg and its outcome.
Describe Grant’s siege of Vicksburg
Summarize the final events of the war leading up
to the surrender at Appomattox.
Compare how these battles relates to the Union
strategy.
Analyze how Union advantages led to the Union's
victory.
After Antietam…Confederate Victories
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Lincoln removes McClellan as the
Commander of the Potomac and replaces him
with General Ambrose Burnside
Burnside marches 120,000 men on Richmond
toward Lee’s 75,000 where the two sides clash
in the Battle of Fredericksburg
Commanders
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Union: General Ambrose Burnside
Confederate: General Lee, Longstreet &
Stonewall Jackson
Date: December 11-15, 1862
The Battle of
Fredericksburg/Sharpsburg
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In order for Burnside to move his troops toward
Richmond, had to move south but had to cross
the Rappahannock River
All civilian bridges had been destroyed; orders the
construction of flotillas
 Poor communication and bad weather result in the
arrival of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia
 Lee entrenches his men on the heights surrounding
Fredericksburg
The Battle of Fredericksburg
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December 13, 1862: Union attempt to cross the
Rappahannock River was a disaster
Burnside orders a series of frontal assaults up
Prospect Hill and Marye’s Heights that resulted in
staggering casualties
 17,929 total (Union: 13,353; Confederate: 4,576)
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Confederate Victory: Burnside retreats and is
replaced by “Fighting Joe” Hooker
The Battle of Chancellorsville
(or The Wilderness)
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Commanding Officers:
Union: Fighting Joe Hooker
Confederacy: Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson
The Battle of Chancellorsville or
Wilderness
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Fighting Joe Hooker attempts again to take
Fredericksburg , which is just as disastrous as the
first attempt
 Hooker fords the Rapidan and Rappahannock Rivers
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Lee divides his men, leaving half his forces in
Fredericksburg and half heading to confront
Hooker near a mansion called Chancellorsville
The Battle of Chancellorsville or
Wilderness
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Battle Plan: Hooker sends cavalry ahead by 2
weeks (100,000 men) to destroy Confederate
supply and communication lines.
Goal: draw Lee out of Fredericksburg while
sending infantry 40 miles up river to surprise
attack Lee’s left flank...
 BUT…
Chancellorsville: Day 1
The Battle of Chancellorsville
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Lee’s men surprise the Union Army on May 2,
1863; fighting lasts through May 3rd
Outcome: Confederate Victory
 Many consider Chancellorsville to be Lee’s greatest
victory.
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Union suffered 14,000 casualties, the Confederates
10,000
 Confederates lost more, though, as Stonewall Jackson
was mortally wounded
The Unions 3 Point Strategy a.k.a The
Anaconda Plan
1.
2.
3.
Blockade
Gain control of the Mississippi River
Build the Army of the Potomac to defend
Washington D.C., defeat Lee, and Capture
Richmond
3 Turning Points of the Civil War
1.
2.
3.
Antietam
• 1st Union “victory”
• Emancipation
announced, more African
Americans involved in
the war effort
• No help from Europe for
the South
Gettysburg & Vicksburg
Re-election of Lincoln
Battle of Gettysburg: The Basics
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Fought from July 1st through July 3, 1863
in Gettysburg, PA
Many historians consider the battle to be
a major turning point in the American
Civil War
November 19th, 1863, President Lincoln
delivered his famous “Gettysburg
Address” at the dedication ceremony for
the Gettysburg National Cemetery
Major Generals: Union
Major Generals:
Confederacy
Day One: July 1, 1863
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General Lee begins leading his Army of Northern
Virginia into northern territory
CSA soldiers hear there are shoes in Gettysburg
Surprised to encounter 2 Union brigades who
engage the troops
Day One: July 1, 1863
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Leads to reinforcements from both sides
The Army of the Potomac (Union) led by George
Meade
 Took a defensive position upon a ridge
 Lee attacks causing the Union to retreat to town
 BUT, North has the has the high ground at Cemetery
Ridge
Day Two: July 2, 1863
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A majority of the armies on both side
finally arrive
 Union 93,000 soldiers
 Confederacy 71,000 soldiers
Union in a fishhook shaped formation
 Leaves their left flank open at Little
Round Top
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Day Two: July 2, 1863

Joshua Chamberlain Teachers
leads can kick
too, you
Maine troops to defendbutt
the
hill
know!?!
 Run out of ammo, but led a
bayonet charge…CSA shocked
surrender and run away
 If the 20th MA had fallen, Lee
would have routed the entire
Union line and then marched to
D.C.

Devil’s Den and Culp’s Hill (rt.
Flank) also saw fierce fighting
Devil’s Den
Devil’s Den
Day Three: July 3, 1863
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Early morning Lee orders artillery attack in middle
of Union line as attacks on the flanks were
unsuccessful
1. Orders a the largest artillery barrage of the war (2
miles long , 150-170
2. Orders an infantry attack center of Union line with
12,500 Confederate soldiers
3. Followed by a cavalry charge on Union Right flank
which would then meet the infantry in the middle of
the Union line
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Both attempts fail and Lee must retreat to VA
Pickett’s Charge
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What actually happened:
 Artillery overshot Union lines…but couldn’t see
because of the overwhelming amount of smoke
 Pickett’s “charge” was more like a slow death
march; Union artillery mows them down!
 Casualty
rate was more than 50% for the
Confederacy
 Cavalry assault, under command of JEB Stuart,
was stopped before it even began by Union
cavalry
Gettysburg: Losses
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Approximately 51,000 casualties
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Union losses = 23,000 killed or wounded
Confederate losses = 28,000 killed, wounded or
captured
Why is Gettysburg considered a turning point in
the war?
• Shattered southern morale (which had been an
advantage)
• Union army was beginning to come together
Meanwhile in the West…
The Vicksburg Campaign
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Only 2 cities left before Grant controls the
Mississippi River
Crosses the river and moves northeast toward the
capital of Mississippi: Jackson
Engages CSA in Jackson and wins
Pushes the CSA west toward Vicksburg, a port
city on the Mississippi River
 Super important…the last real block to the Union
entirely controlling the Mississippi River
Siege of Vicksburg
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Grant marches toward the city and tries attacking
unsuccessfully
Settles for a siege - surround a fortress/city and
starve it into surrender
 People start to eat dogs and mules
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Confederates under the command of John
Pemberton surrender on July 4, 1863
 29,495 surrendered
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The Confederacy cut in two!!!
Vicksburg
Confederacy Morale
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Defeat at Gettysburg and Vicksburg limits
manpower
Shortages on food, shoes, uniforms, guns and
ammo
Soldiers begin to desert and also to fight for the
North
Peace movement springs up
Sherman’s March to the Sea
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Grant appoints William Tecumseh
Sherman as commander of the
Mississippi division
Both Grant and Sherman = TOTAL
WAR
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Late 1864: His army occupies
Atlanta’s railroads and proceeds to
march east to Savannah
Principles of SCORCHED EARTH
 Burn crops, kill livestock, consume
supplies, and destroy civilian
infrastructure
The End is Near
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Grant and Lee in Virginia
 At a stalemate; fight battle after battle with no progress
 Union suffers extremely high casualties
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After Sherman’s march to the sea, he moves
north to aid Grant
Lincoln reelected in 1864 to second term
Appomattox Court House
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Richmond is about to fall; Lee falls at Petersburg
Jefferson Davis and the CSA government
abandon Richmond
April 9, 1865 the CSA surrenders:
 Terms are generous: soldiers sent home with their
possessions, horses and 3-days rations, officers can
keep their side arms
Wilmer McClean
House
First Bull Run took place
on his farm…sold it and
moved to Appomattox
Court House about 150
miles away
 When Lee was looking for
a place to surrender to
Grant ,a messenger
knocked on McLean's
door and requested the
use of his home.

Wilmer McClean House
After the War
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State’s authority diminishes
620,000 deaths, 500,000 wounded
13th Amendment passed - banning slavery
April 14th, 1865 (5 days after Appomattox)
Lincoln’ assassinated at Ford’s Theater
 John Wilkes Booth - southern sympathizer - shoots the
president
John Wilkes Booth
The Assassination of Lincoln
Plot devised by John Wilkes Booth along with accomplices:
 Lewis Powell (Secretary of State Seward)
 George Atzerodt (VP Andrew Johnson)
 David Herrod (lookout)
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The Assassination
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Booth, Powell & Atzerodt were to strike at the
same time (10:00PM)
In the balcony with Lincoln: Mary, Major
Henry Rathbone & his fiancé Clara Harris
Booth knew the play and when laughter would
erupt.
Shoots Lincoln point blank, stabs Rathbone and
jumps onto the stage:
 "Sic semper tyrannis!"
The bullet, the probe
and skull fragments
from Lincoln's
autopsy
John Wilkes Booth Shoots Lincoln
Death of Abraham Lincoln
Execution of Mary Surratt, Lewis
Powell, David Herold, and George
Atzerodt on July 7, 1865