A Nation Torn Apart: The Civil War, 1861-1865 Chapter 13
Toward Union Victory Chapter 13.4
The Tide of the War Turns In June 1863, Lee and Davis planned another invasion of the North On July 1, the Union and Confederate armies collided at Gettysburg, Penn While the three-day-long battle went back and forth, ultimately the Union prevailed. By July 4, the Confederates were retreating back to Virginia. At the Same as the Battle of Gettysburg, Union troops had laid siege to Vicksburg, Mississippi. Vicksburg fell to General Grant on July 4 and the Union took control of the entire Mississippi River, cutting the Confederacy in two. Despite some major victories, the Union war effort was still in doubt. Troop numbers were in serious decline. To add to the number of troops Congress approved the enlistment of African American soldiers Black troops faced great adversity in joining the Union war effort; however, adversity was no deterrent to participation for many. In all nearly 200,000 blacks served in the Union military (10% of enlisted men although blacks comprised only 1% of the northern population) African Americans essential participation in the war effort allowed them to fight for and achieve full citizenship in the war s aftermath.
The Confederacy Begins to Crumble Low troop recruitment levels (despite a draft) and desertions caused a sharp decline in Confederate military power by 1864. By mid-1863, the weakness of the Confederate economy began to show. The Union blockade tightened between 1863-1865 and (in addition to labor and production shortages on Confederate farms and in Confederate factories) led to devastating economic consequences in the import-dependent South. Davis s cotton diplomacy had backfired as Britain and France turned to Egypt and India for cotton imports and laid-off British textile workers threw their support behind the Union. The Confederacy s economic problems threatened its war effort as it struggled to raise hard currency to import ships, weapons, ammunition, and other war supplies. The Emancipation Proclamation led to further economic ills in the south as thousands of slaves fled their plantation heading for the Union Army or Northern States.
The Critical Stage Lincoln knew his chances for re-election depended upon military progress. Lincoln, frustrated with problematic generals chose in early 1864 to tap General Ulysses S. Grant as commander of all Union forces. In late 1863, Grant drove the Confederate army out of Tennessee into Georgia capturing the vital Tennessee River and an important railway depot at Chattanooga. Grant proposed a two-pronged approach to finishing off the Confederacy which included destroying Lee s army and capturing Richmond and a Union army under General William T. Sherman marching east from Tennessee to capture Atlanta. Grant s slow sluggish campaign against Lee left massive casualties but created slow progress toward the Confederate capital but by June 1864, Grant had Lee s army under siege at Petersburg. By September 1864, Sherman s forces had successfully captured Atlanta providing a much needed morale boost to the north. During the very bloody summer of 1864, Lincoln also had to deal with his reelection campaign. The Democrats and their candidate (former General McClellan) provided a difficult task for Lincoln in his reelection bid. With news of the fall of Atlanta reaching the North at the best possible time, Lincoln secured reelection in 1864.
The Final Stages of the War After capturing Atlanta, Grant ordered Sherman to continue on to the Atlantic coast. Sherman s March to the Sea, utilized a scorched earth policy, leading the Union army to destroy everything in its path (destroying crops, slaughtering livestock, tearing up railroad tracks, burning bridges, and pulling down telegraph wires as well as providing refuge to slaves) Sherman s March demoralized southern civilians as well as depriving the Confederate army with much needed supplies as well as transportation and communication networks. To add to the horror Sherman began distributing southern lands to freed slaves with Special Field Order No. 15 just as Congress passed the Thirteenth Amendment making slavery unconstitutional. After capturing Savannah, Sherman turned his army northward toward Richmond. At the same time Grant continued to wait out the siege of Petersburg, slowly cutting off Lee from all supply lines. Thousands of Lee s men deserted or died due to starvation. Lee was forced to flee as their last supply line was cut off after the battle of Five Forks. Grant caught up with Lee at Appomattox Courthouse, Virginia on April 8, 1865 he surrendered the next day. Following the surrender of Lee, Lincoln began the process of healing the wounds of the nation. His efforts were cut short. On April 11, 1865 Lincoln was assassinated.
Questions: What role did African American soldiers play in the Union war effort? How did the Union blockade affect the Confederate war effort? What approach to warfare set Generals Ulysses S. Grant and William T. Sherman apart from less successful Union military leaders?