The Battle of ChancellorsvilleAfter General Robert E. Lee won a victory at the Battle of Chancellorsville the South received an enormous boostt in confidence from the victory, while Northern morale plunged.After achieving an astounding victory with nearly half as many men as the Union, Lee began to think his men were invincible.

Gettysburg: (390-391)Following the victory at Chancellorsville, General Lee decided to invade the North again.In June of 1863 Lee crossed into Pennsylvania.By the end of June of 1863, some 75,000 Confederate troops had begun to assemble near the town of Gettysburg, PennsylvaniaWhen Confederate scouts reported a supply of shoes in the town, the Confederates organized a raiding partyThe troops were unaware that two Union brigades had positioned themselves on high ground northwest of GettysburgAs the Confederate raiding party approached the small town on July 1, 1863, it met a blaze of Union fire

Gettysburg: (390-391)Robert E. Lee knew that the danger to his forces would remain as long as the North held the higher groundA staggering number of young men lost their lives at Gettysburg. After three days of fighting, Union casualties reached 23,000, and Confederate casualties were more than 28,000.In November of 1863, President Lincoln helped dedicate a cemetery at the Gettysburg battlefield.Lincoln spoke for only a few minutes, but his Gettysburg address remains a classic statement of democratic idealsAlthough the Union army emerged victorious at Gettysburg, it once again narrowly failed to end the war.This battle marked a critical turning point. The Union army had proved that the Confederacy could be beaten

Lincoln Finds His General: (391-392)Ulysses S. Grant is Lincolns New Top GeneralVICKSBURG: Grant knew that gaining full control of the Mississippi River required the taking of Vicksburg, MississippiIn May of 1863, Grant hatched a risky plan to take Vicksburg, MississippiFor six weeks General Grant and his men laid siege to the city, preventing any Confederate reinforcements from arriving.During the long Siege of Vicksburg, the Citys defenders began eating mules and rats to keep from starvingOn July 3, 1863, General Grant and Confederate General John Pemberton met under an oak tree to discuss the terms of surrender

VICKSBURG:The Confederates surrendered to Grant. On July 8, the Confederate forces at Port Hudson, Louisiana, also fell.These victories gave the Union total control over the Mississippi River, thereby cutting off Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas from the rest of the Confederacy

Lincoln Finds His General: (391-392)Summer of 1864: (392)President Lincoln promoted General Grant to general in chief, commander of all Union forces, in the spring of 1864.Grant planned a war of attrition that is, to continue fighting until the South ran out of men, supplies, and the will to fightGRANT WILL FIGHT

SHERMANS MARCH TO THE SEA: (393-394)Union General William Tecumseh Sherman matched General Grants determination.Because Sherman performed well at Vicksburg, Grant rewarded Sherman by making him commander of the Tennessee ArmySherman took on a campaign to destroy southern railroads and industriesWhen Atlanta fell on September 2, 1864, the Confederates lost their last railroad link across the Appalachian MountainsAfter ordering residents of Atlanta to evacuate, Shermans men set fire to large portions of the cityThe Fall of Atlanta boosted President Lincolns re-election campaignShermans success at Atlanta, renewed hope that the conflict would soon end.Lincoln won the election of 1864 against Democratic Candidate General George McClellan

SHERMANS MARCH TO THE SEA: (393-394)After the fall of Atlanta, Mary Boykin Chestnut, of South Carolina, wrote, Since Atlanta I have felt as if all were dead within me, forever. We are going to be wiped off the earth.THE BURNING OF ATLANTA

SHERMANS MARCH TO THE SEA: (393-394)Although most of the destruction of Atlanta went beyond Shermans orders, it stemmed from the generals strategy of fighting a TOTAL WAR he believed it was not enough to wage war against enemy troops. Rather, to win the war, the Union must strike at the enemys economic resources.Sherman believed they must make old and young, rich and poor, feel the hard hand of warWe cannot change the hearts of those people of the South, he said, but we can make war so terriblethat generations would pass away before they would again appeal to it.

SHERMANS MARCH TO THE SEA: (393-394)In early December 1864, Sherman and his men reached Savannah, where they were re-supplied by the Union Navy. On December 22, the general sent President Lincoln a message: I beg to present you, as a Christmas gift, the city of Savannah. Savannah, GeorgiaOne month later Sherman and his troops turned north in an effort to link up with General Grants men.

Surrender at Appomattox: (394-395)April 2, 1865, with Grant close on his heels, General Lee withdrew from Richmond, Virginia, Capital of the Confederate States. Within hours Union troops poured into the Confederate Capital.Lees army was now only half the size of Grants. Knowing his troops could not survive another summer like th one of 1864, Lee attempted to flee westward, hoping to join up with more troops.Grant had cut off Lees escape. With Lees once proud army reduced to less than 30,000 men, many without food, Lee asked for terms of surrender

Surrender at Appomattox: (394-395)On April 9, 1865, Grant and Lee met in a house in the tiny Virginia village of Appomattox Courthouse.Lee stood in full dress uniform with a jewel-studded sword at his side.Grant wore a privates shirt, unbuttoned at the neck.For a time the two men talked about their Mexican War days.Then they turned to the business at hand.

Surrender at Appomattox: (394-395)The terms of surrender were simple.Confederate officers could keep their side arms.All soldiers would be fed and allowed to keep their horses and mules.None would be tried for treasonAs General Lee rode off, Union troops started to celebrate the Union victory, but Grant silenced them. The war is over, he said. The rebels are our countrymen again.On April 26, 1865, General Joseph E. Johnston surrendered to General Sherman under similar terms at Durham Station, North Carolina.

THE WAR IS OVER