Vicksburg and Gettysburg
The Civil War
1863
The War in the West
• Murfreesboro (Dec. 31, 1862-Jan 3, 1863)
– Indecisive battle, with massive casualties
• 13,000 U.S., 12,000 C.S.
• Immobilized both armies for months
• Vicksburg Campaign
– Vicksburg the last C.S. stronghold on the Mississippi
– Fall 1862, Grant sought to move his army South and
capture Vicksburg from the east
• Plan stalled, as Forrest cut Grant’s supply lines
Vicksburg Campaign
• April 1863, Grant marched 23,000 men
south along the western bank of the Miss.
• April 16, Union gunboats and transports ran
past the Vicksburg defenses
• April 27, Sherman feinted an attack north of
Vicksburg
• April 30, Grant crossed the Mississippi
south of Vicksburg
The Vicksburg Campaign, Spring-Summer 1863
Siege of Vicksburg
• Grant defeated C.S. forces at
Grand Gulf and Jackson, then
attacked Vicksburg from east
• May 19 & 22, Grant’s forces
assaulted Vicksburg lines
– 3,000 casualties
• Grant then est. a siege line
• July 4, Vicksburg surrendered
Significance of Vicksburg
• Union control of the Mississippi
• Broke the Confederacy in half
• Took an entire C.S. army out of the war
– C.S.A. lost more than it could afford to lose
• Showcased the brilliance of Grant
– Promoted to Major General
– Brought east to fight Lee
Chancellorsville, Va., May 1-4
• Joe Hooker takes over Army of the Potomac
– Had 133,000 men in N. Virginia to Lee’s 60,000
Chancellorsville, May 2
Significance of Chancellorsville
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Lee again stymied Union advance on Richmond
Set stage for Lee’s second northern invasion
Loss of Jackson
Loss of confidence in Hooker
– But not his removal (yet)
• Most brilliant victory of Lee’s career
– But a failure to annihilate the enemy
Why does Lee invade North in 1863?
• Win a battle on Northern soil
– Possibly end the war
• If he stayed in Va., Union army would
regroup and attack again
– Lee was running out of men & resources
• Remove war from Virginia
• Win victory that would compensate for the
loss of Vicksburg
Gettysburg, July 1
Gettysburg, July 2
Union position at Little Round Top
July 2, 1863
Gettysburg, July 3
Dead soldiers at Gettysburg
Significance of Gettysburg
• Greatest battle fought in the Americas
– 51,000 casualties (23,000 U.S., 28,000 C.S.)
• Lee’s northern invasion ended
– Lost 1/3 of his army
• Union failure to end the war there
• Combined with loss of Vicksburg, the
Confederacy had lost more than it could lose