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Gettysburg and Vicksburg:
The Turning Point of the Civil War
Caroline Conforti, Aden Chon, Gabby Gruszka, Ethan Light
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Key points on The Civil War
Secession began in December of 1860, when southern states began to withdraw from the
United States.
Secession was not something that the south just woke up and decided to do - they had
been thinking about the idea of it for a long time.
By mid-1861 eleven states had seceded.
Lincoln felt it was his duty to preserve the Union, which meant getting the seceding states
to rejoin the United States.
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The Civil War: Year of 1863
-Battle of Chancellorsville
-Siege/Battle of Vicksburg
-Battle of Gettysburg
-Gettysburg Address
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Timeline of Civil War 1863
Start of Gettysburg
Campaign 6/9
End of Siege of
Vicksburg
7/4
Chancellorsville
4/30-5/6
Start of Siege of
Vicksburg
5/18
Battle of Gettysburg
7/1-7/3
Gettysburg Address
9/19
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Gettysburg Address
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Vicksburg
Today I will be teaching you about the following
events:
● The Siege of Vicksburg
● The Anaconda Plan
● Smaller battles of the siege
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Two commanders of the Siege of Vicksburg
Ulysses S. Grant
John C. Pemberton
Had about 77,000
men
Had about 33,000
men
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Initial Attack by Union Troops
● Created by General Winfield scott.
● Anaconda Plan was a union strategy to defeat the
confederacy at the beginning of the war.
● Capturing the last confederate stronghold would
complete the Anaconda plan.
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The battle
●
The Union surrounded the city of Vicksburg trapping the
Confederates inside the city. The Confederates stayed
there about 6 weeks, but ran out of food and other
supplies. After that, the Confederates tried to break
through the Unions army that surrounded them, but did
not succeed and surrendered. The Confederates
surrendered 6 weeks after being trapped inside of the
city of Vicksburg.
Weaponry
● The weapons that were used during the
siege were guns, cannons,
● There were also situations in which both
sides would mine and place hundreds of
pounds of explosives behind enemy lines (to
blow up people, walls, and batteries)
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Other Events of the Siege
● The Battle of Millken’s Bend: The confederacy
attempted to cut off Grant’s supply line during the siege.
● The Battle of Goodrich’s Landing: Confederates raided a
plantation in Louisiana , destroyed property and stole
supplies and weapons.
● The Battle of Helena : The Confederate troops attacked
Helena, Arkansas capturing the fort but failing to break
the Union’s defenses.
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End of Siege
● The siege ended on July 4, 1863
● The siege lasted 47 days
● After the Confederate surrendered, the Union won and took
control of the fort and Mississippi River.
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Battle of Gettysburg
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Battle of Gettysburg (July 1st to July 3rd 1863)
I will be teaching you about the following topics:
● Pre - battle
● Battle strategies & Weaponry
● End of battle
● Significance of battle
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Battle strategies
Battle of Gettysburg
Tactics
● The tactics at the battle of Gettysburg were influenced by the
weapons used.
● Infantry and cavalry on both sides were supported by artillery, which
protected both the men and their horses.
● When forming for battle, infantry formations marched and fought in
a two-rank line of battle, with the men shoulder to shoulder. A line
of battle gave the commander the ability to concentrate the firepower
of these weapons at a given target
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Battle strategies
Battle of Gettysburg
Weaponry:
● In the Battle of Gettysburg both of the opposing armies used a range
of weapons.
● Bayonets, swords, and revolvers were used but the primary infantry
weapon was the
Single-Shot rifled musket.
● This weapon measured to being about 4 feet 7 inches long and
weighed a little over nine pounds.
● These weapons had a maximum range of four hundred yards
● A well trained soldier could load and fire his musket three times per
minute.
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End of Battle
● Lee retreats into Virginia
● Lee’s desire to constantly be aggressive cost the South the battle.
● Lee’s casualties are so high he starts a 27 mile long train of Hospital wagons down
the road to Virginia.
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Pre - battle
Battle of Gettysburg
Who is Robert E. Lee and why did he want the battle of
Gettysburg to happen?
Robert E. Lee is known for commanding the confederate army of Northern Virginia until his from
1862 until his surrender in 1865.
These are the three main reasons Lee started the Gettysburg Campaign
●
Making an offensive move would take pressure off Virginia’s farms during growing season.
●
A victory in the North would put Political pressure on Lincoln by making the Northerners want
to end the war.
●
A victory in the North would also make it more likely that other countries (mostly England and
France) would send their troops to help the Confederacy.
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Important events / places
Battle of Gettysburg
● Pickett’s Charge - 15,000 Confederate troops attack General Mead’s troops
position along Cemetery ridge. Confeds. fail. Approx. 6k Confed.
casualties. Confeds lose and this marks the end of the battle.
● Assault of Culp’s hill- Saw fighting all three days of the battle. Around 127
feet above cemetery ridge it was critical for receiving Union army supplies
and preventing the Confeds. from reaching Baltimore or Washington D.C.
● Cemetery hill- One of the main sights of the Union Army’s artillery, and
marks where the Unions defense line begins to turn east.
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Important events / places
Battle of Gettysburg
● Little round top - Littler of the two hills south of Gettysburg, on the second
day it became a critical position in Lee’s flank attack on Mead’s position on
cemetery ridge. Gouverner K. Warren sends troops minutes before Confeds.
attack.
● Defense of Big round top- larger of the two hills south of Gettysburg. On the
third day of the battle, Union General Judson Kilpatrick orders General Elon
Farnsworth to send cavalry regiments to attack John Bell Hood’s division.
three of the four regiments failed, so Farnsworth divided the last regiment, the
1st Vermont into three battalions. Farnsworth leads the second and he is shot
five times and dies.
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Red = Confederacy Blue = Union
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Significance of Battle
Battle of Gettysburg
The Battle of Gettysburg is such a important aspect of
the civil war.
Did you ever wonder why?
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Significance of battle
Battle of Gettysburg
Why is the battle of Gettysburg so important?
● One reason is because of the location of the battle.
● The battle was enormous
● Lincoln used Gettysburg to justify the cost of the war
● The battle of Gettysburg was the turning point of the war
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Gettysburg as a Turning Point in the
War
● Lee’s defeat at Gettysburg prevented another large offensive
move by the South
The Union now had the upper hand in the war, and the Confederates were forced to
play defense until the war’s end.
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Vicksburg as a Turning Point in the War
The Union hold of Vicksburg prevented the Confederates from
using shipping ports on the Mississippi River, and essentially
split the South in half.
The Union now had the upper hand in the war, and the Confederates were forced to
play defense until the war’s end.
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The Gettysburg Address as a Role in
the War
The language in the Gettysburg Address made
the Civil War equally about slavery and equal
rights as secession.
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Facts on Gettysburg address with Historical Context
● Lincoln says the word “nation” 5 times in his two minute
speech, yet two years back, he is referring to America as
“Union”. This is because during the two years Lincoln’s
rhetoric changed significantly.
● Edward Everett delivers his formal two-hour address
before Lincoln gives his two-minute address, speaking in
his high pitched voice and his two-minute address left
many unimpressed.
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Facts on Gettysburg address with
Historical Context continued
● Lincoln never mentions sides. He never talks about winners or
losers, instead he is asking America to remember why the cause
of freedom is still worth fighting for. Remember, he is talking
to people who don’t think they can go any further. This speech
gives the North motivation.
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Thank you!
Thank you all for watching!
We hope that you enjoyed our presentation and learned
a lot!
Now for some rapping...
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