Chapter
15 Section 5
Chapter 15 Section 5: Decisive Battles
Learning Target: I can describe the
significance of the battles at Vicksburg and
Gettysburg.
Decisive Battles
Chapter
15 Section 5
Warm Up Questions:
1. Why did some in the North oppose the war?
2. Why did some in the South oppose the war?
3. How did the war affect the economy?
4. If you had $300 what did you have the option to
buy out of?
5. Due to the fact that most men were off fighting
what jobs did women now have to do?
Decisive Battles
Chapter
15 Section 5
Terms and People:
• siege – an attempt to capture a place by
surrounding it with military forces and cutting it
off until the people inside surrender
• total war – all-out attacks aimed at destroying
an enemy’s army, its resources, and its people’s
will to fight
• William Tecumseh Sherman – tough Union
army general
Decisive Battles
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15 Section 5
How did Lincoln and his generals turn
the tide of the war?
By 1863, there seemed to be no end in sight
to the Civil War.
Decisive battles at Gettysburg and Vicksburg
would change the war’s course and enable the
Union to win.
Decisive Battles
Chapter
15 Section 5
Late in 1862, the war began to go badly for the
North once again.
General Burnside
overcompensated
for McClellan’s
caution and lost
many men in the
Battle of
Fredericksburg.
General
Hooker’s army
lost the
Battle of
Chancellorsville
to an army half
its size.
Also, General Lee began leading his troops north
in the hopes of winning the war.
Decisive Battles
Chapter
15 Section 5
Two key battles in 1863 turned the tide of the war
for the Union—Gettysburg and Vicksburg.
Decisive Battles
Chapter
15 Section 5
Battle of Gettysburg
The first decisive battle took place in the tiny town
of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
The battle started
when Union soldiers
discovered Confederates
raiding a shoe factory.
Decisive Battles
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15 Section 5
Lee wanted to gain a victory in the North for two
reasons:
- Demoralize the Northern population.
- Possibly gain British support.
85,000 Union troops vs. 75,000 Confederates
Battle lasted three days, July 1-3 1863.
Pickett’s charge was the climax of the battle, an all
out frontal assault by the Confederates which was
crushed and resulted in 7,500 casualties.
General Lee lost nearly one-third of his troops in the
three-day battle.
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Virginia Monument
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15 Section 5
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15 Section 5
The South also suffered a major loss in Vicksburg.
For six weeks, Grant laid siege to the town.
Residents hid in
caves and ate
rats to keep
from starving.
In July 1863, the Confederates gave up. It was
the last city on the Mississippi River still in
Confederate hands.
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15 Section 5
In November 1863, 15,000 people gathered at
Gettysburg to honor the soldiers who died there.
In his Gettysburg Address, Lincoln looked ahead
to a final Union victory.
Gettysburg Address
“We here highly resolve that…this nation,
under God, shall have a new birth of
freedom….”
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Grant
In 1864, President Lincoln
gave command of all
Union forces to General
Ulysses S. Grant.
Grant’s huge army began
hammering at the
Confederates in a series
of battles.
Lee began running out of men and supplies, but
Grant had a steady stream of both.
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15 Section 5
Sherman’s March
Meanwhile, General William Tecumseh Sherman led
another Union army toward Atlanta.
Sherman was a
tough soldier
who believed in
total war.
Sherman’s troops captured Atlanta, and Sherman
ordered it to be burned.
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15 Section 5
From Atlanta, they moved east, destroying
everything in their path.
This is known as Sherman’s March to the Sea.
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15 Section 5
What would be railroads be used to transport
during the Civil War?
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15 Section 5
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15 Section 5
Lee Surrenders
On April 9,1865, Confederate General Lee
surrendered at Appomattox Court House.
Grant offered Lee
generous terms.
The Confederates
had only to give up
their weapons and
leave in peace.
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15 Section 5
The Civil War was the bloodiest conflict the U.S.
has ever fought.
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15 Section 5
Results
The Civil War had two key results.
It reunited
the nation.
It put an end
to slavery.
However, African Americans would not begin to
experience full freedom for another 100 years.
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15 Section 5
Closing Questions:
1. What is one major result of the Battle of
Gettysburg?
2. What is one major result of the Battle of
Vicksburg?
3. Who took total control of the Union Army?
4. What happened at Appomattox Courthouse?
5. What did General William Tecumseh Sherman
do?
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Chapter
15 Section 5
Section Review
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