Summary of the Civil War

On July 1, 1863, the biggest battle of the Civil War started. This most famous and most important Civil War Battle occurred over three hot summer days, July 1 to July 3, 1863, around the small market town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Before the battle, Union general Ulysses S. Grant started a siege of Vicksburg which would shut down the Mississippi River. Meanwhile, major cities in the North such as Philadelphia, Baltimore and even Washington were under threat of attack from General Robert E. Lee's Confederate Army of Northern Virginia which had crossed the Potomac River and marched into Pennsylvania. The Union and Confederate army both had around 75,000 soldiers. With both armies on a collision course, the days leading up to the war were

The South outnumbered the North and the North retreated thought Gettysburg. Lee told his men to still attack to finish off the Union troops aka the North. But his men did not so that gave the Union time to dig and get their defence ready.

Grant continued his success in 1863. Ulysses S. Grant and his army captured a Confederate stronghold. The stronghold was located in Vicksburg, Mississippi. As Ulysses S. Grant continued to show his determination and ability to produce results he was promoted. In 1864, President Abraham Lincoln decided to have Ulysses S. Grant to be the Lieutenant General of all the United States armies. With this new appointment, Ulysses S. Grant was able to more effectively combat the Confederates. Slowly he was able to successfully wear down the Confederate armies. With hard work and many bloody battles, the Confederate surrender neared. On April 9, 1865, Robert Lee, the general in charge of the Confederate forces surrendered to the Union. This was made official at the Appomattox Court House, which ended the brutal civil

With McClellan aware of Lee’s plan, as outlined in “Special Orders 191,” he assumed the offensive weeks earlier than Lee expected. As such, the Army of Virginia assumed a defensive posture in order to consolidate its divided forces and protect its lines of communication. Given this turn of fate, Lee would not resume his strategic offensive and therefore was unable to threaten the Union capital in hopes of dictating peace on his terms. Although, the Union desired a decisive victory to end the war, McClellan remained reserved throughout the campaign and focused his efforts on the immediate issue of stopping Lee’s invasion and defending the nation’s capital while preserving his forces for future operations. Nonetheless, the Union victory rendered Washington safe and signaled a turning point in the war as it eliminated hopes of British support to the Confederacy and allowed President Lincoln to issue the Emancipation

Even though Grant’s generalship looked very impressive, the South showed no signs of giving up. General Robert E. Lee’s army in Petersburg, Virginia was also testing Lincoln’s policies. The Confederates also held the areas around the Appalachian Mountains and Louisiana along with Texas. As Lincoln was elected for his second term, he used the same tactics that he did during his first term as a Civil War president. However, his pressures of the first term ease off with Grant being Lincoln’s main general. During the first week of April 1865, the final victory occurred for the North (Clack, 41). The reason was that the Union army smashed Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia. Robert E. Lee soon surrendered to the Union. Days later, President

The 22nd and 28th Iowa Regiments left Hamburg in June of 1865. Their war was over.

On September third of 1862, General Robert E. Lee commanded the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia to enter the state of Maryland. Lee’s army was emboldened with pride,

After suffering a major loss at the battle of Shiloh, general Ulysses S. Grant of the Union army led his army south to Vicksburg, Mississippi. Vicksburg was a major Confederate stronghold that held a large supply of supplies essential to war efforts. The Union controlled a small strip of land beside the Mississippi river, right between Vicksburg and Port Hudson. Taking the stronghold would be vital for the Union to claim control over the Mississippi river, which would be a massive strategic advantage.

Grant began to make plans for a campaign against Vicksburg. The campaign in the American Civil War culminating in the surrender of Vicksburg, Mississippi. The Union forces under General Ulysses S. Grant on July 4, 1863. General Ulysses S. Grant with the largest force, about 67, 000 men. I was to guard rail communications and occupy towns in the Union. It held territory in the west, but he would concentrate on taking Vicksburg. Vicksburg is the last principal confederate bastion on the

Lee’s defeated Army of Northern Virginia after Antietam, Lincoln ran out of his patience. On November 7 he had removed McClellan from command and appointed the reluctant Burnside to his post.

General Ulysses S. Grant's brilliant siege of Vicksburg had a significant impact on the surrender of the Confederacy. This Vicksburg campaign was significant due to the fact that it basically gave the Union total control of the Mississippi River. This meant the isolation of the West and basically a clear waterway for supplies to reach the Deep South. Once this waterway was open arms, food, and soldiers could be provided for the Union soldiers in the South and open a devastating wound in the heart of the Confederacy. Once Vicksburg had been taken the West would basically be isolated and under the Unions control; in addition Grant could focus on the heart of the South. Once Vicksburg was captured, and Grant advanced

After bloody grinding battles at The Wilderness, Spotsylvania, Cold Harbor, and Petersburg, Grant finally brought Lee to bay at in April 1865. In the meantime, Union armies and river fleets in the war comprised the slave states that were west of the Appalachian Mountain chain that won a long series of victories over strong factions within the Confederate armies. These factions were commanded by insignificant and unlucky Confederate generals.

The Battle of Fredericksburg falls in a long list of failures of the Army of the Potomac during the first year of the American Civil War. Following the Battle of Antietam the Northern Army had the opportunity to defeat Lee’s army. However, Northerners, were shocked by Lee’s escape following this battle on 17 September 1862, and were further upset by Major General George B. McClellan’s procrastination in pursuing Lee and allowing General J.E.B. Stuarts daring cavalry raid into Pennsylvania around Gettysburg (10-12 October 1862). McClellan’s failure to pursue Lee’s Army is mainly due to his own lack of confidence, believing that he doesn’t have enough men or material in order to defeat the Army of Virginia. President Lincoln had finally

Lee propelled another intrusion of the North toward the beginning of June, assaulting Union powers instructed by General George Meade on July 1 close Gettysburg, in southern Pennsylvania. More than three days of savage battling, the Confederates were not able push through the Union focus, and endured setbacks of near 60 percent. Meade neglected to counterattack, be that as it may, and Lee's outstanding strengths could escape into Virginia, finishing the last Confederate intrusion of the North. Additionally in July 1863, Union powers under Ulysses took Vicksburg (Mississippi), a triumph that would end up being the defining moment of the war in the western theater. After a Confederate triumph at Chickamauga Brook, Georgia, only south of Chattanooga, Tennessee, in September, Lincoln extended Concede's summon, and he drove a strengthened Government armed force (counting two corps from the Armed force of

However the Confederate forces did not fall for the diversion and launched an attack on Grant. During the winter of 1862-1863, Grant conducted the Bayou Expeditions, or amphibious operations, all to try to reduce Vicksburg. Needless to say-they all failed. After months of frustration and failure, Grant had reached a crossroads in his military career. There was a lot of taking in the northern press to remove him from command. Even members of the U.S. cabinet urged President Lincoln to replace Grant as commander of the western army. The President could not spare this man because he fought. He decided to try him a little longer.