Transcript File

The Civil War
Chapter 15, Section 5
The Way to Victory
Southern Victories
• Between 1862 and 1865, soldiers and civilians
faced a grim conflict marked by death destruction
and change.
• The winter of 1862-1863 saw gloom in the North
and a spark of hope for the South.
• Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia
seemed unbeatable.
Southern Victories
• Robert E. Lee had two huge victories that
almost permanently changed the tide of war
in the South’s favor.
• Lee’s first victory came at the Battle of
Fredericksburg.
• Lee’s army was entrenched, or set up in a
strong position, on a number of hills.
Southern Victories
• Union general Ambrose Burnside made several
attempts to overcome Lee’s troops but thousands
fell on the hillside. (12,653 Union casualties vs.
5,350 Confederate casualties).
• Following his defeat, Burnside resigned and was
replaced by General Joseph Hooker.
Soldiers at Fredericksburg
Southern Victories
• Following Fredericksburg, Lee took another
victory at the Battle of Chancellorsville (Virginia).
• Chancellorsville is considered to be Lee’s “perfect
battle” due to the fact he was outnumbered 2 to 1.
(133,868 Union troops Vs. 61,000 Confederate
troops).
• Unfortunately for Lee, General Stonewall Jackson
was killed.
• Jackson was shot in the arm by friendly fire. The
arm had to be amputated and Jackson died a week
later.
Gettysburg
• Following Chancellorsville, Lincoln
replaced General Joseph Hooker with
General George Meade.
• After Meade was placed in control of the
Union army, he and General Robert E. Lee
would clash in the largest battle of the Civil
War: Gettysburg
Gettysburg
• The Union and Southern armies met at
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania by accident.
• Confederate forces were trying to raid a shoe
factory due to the fact nearly 1/3 of the
Confederate soldiers had no shoes to wear. A
simple raid turned into a three day battle.
• On the third and final day of the battle, Robert E.
Lee decided to launch an offensive attack to crush
the Union army once and for all.
Gettysburg
• Robert E. Lee told General George Pickett
to lead the attack. This third day at
Gettysburg would come to be known as
Pickett’s Charge.
• Pickett would lead 14,000 Confederate troops
across a one-half mile of open ground towards
Union lines.
• Pickett’s men proved to be easy targets for Union
fire. Barely half of the Confederate troops returned
from the charge.
Gettysburg
Gettysburg
• By the time the smoke cleared the battlefield on
the third day, the casualty rate was outstanding!
• Union Casualties: 23,055 Vs. Confederate
Casualties: 23,230.
• This was the only battle in which Robert E. Lee
had a higher casualty rate than his opponent.
• Union Army claimed victory at Gettysburg and
forced the Confederate army back into the South.
• The South would never try another offensive
attack.
Vicksburg
• On the same day as Gettysburg, the Union
army under the command of Ulysses S.
Grant had a huge victory at Vicksburg,
Mississippi.
• 29,500 Confederate soldiers were captured
in this battle.
• The Union now completely controlled the
Mississippi River
• The Battles of Vicksburg and Gettysburg
marked a turning point in the war.
Lincoln
• On November 19, 1863 at a ceremony dedicating
a cemetery at Gettysburg, President Abraham
Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address.
• Considered the greatest speech by a president
• Though only a few minutes, the speech helped war
weary Americans look beyond the images of the
battlefield and focus on their shared ideals.
Final Phases of the War
• In August of 1864, General David Farragut
led a Union fleet into Mobile Bay.
• The Union now controlled the Gulf of
Mexico.
Sherman
• In April of 1864, General Grant gave a man
by the name of William Tecumseh Sherman
command of 60,000 Union troops.
• Sherman’s orders were to march into
Georgia and strike a crippling blow to the
heart of the Confederacy.
• What Sherman did has been called horrible
by some, and awe inspiring by others.
Final Phases of the War
• General William Tecumseh Sherman engaged in a method
called total war.
• As Sherman began his march to the sea he burned the
major Southern city of Atlanta.
• As he moved through the South, Union troops took what
food they needed from the land. They then tore up railroad
lines and fields. They killed animals and destroyed
anything useful in the South.
• Along the way they freed slaves, and burned nearly
everything in their path.
• This caused numerous southern soldiers to desert the
military and return home. Why?
Sherman’s March to the Sea
March to the Sea
• Sherman’s “March to the Sea” began with the burning of
Atlanta, Georgia on November 15, 1864 and concluded in
Savannah, Georgia on December 20, 1864.
• During this campaign Sherman destroyed 300 miles of
southern rail lines, seized 5,000 horses, 4,000 mules,
13,000 cattle. He confiscated/ burned 9.5 million pounds
of corn and freed an estimated 10,000 slaves.
• In a letter to Lincoln, Sherman wrote; “I present you as a
Christmas gift the City of Savannah, with 150 cannons and
plenty of ammunition, as well as 25,000 bales of cotton.”
The Results
• On April 2, 1865 the Southern capital of
Richmond, Virginia fell to Union troops.
• On April 9, 1865, Robert E. Lee and his troops
officially surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant in a
Virginia village called Appomattox Court House.
• Victory for the North
Results of the War
• 620,000 Dead Americans ….That is more than World War
I, World War II, Vietnam, Korean War and the
Revolutionary War and Iraq combined.
• Billions of dollars in damages, mostly in the South.
• The North’s victory saved the Union (United States)
• The war freed millions of African Americans.
• By today’s figures, the Civil War cost approximately $75
billion.