Initially, the Confederates drove Union troops from fields west and north of the town, but they failed on the second day to break the Union line. After two hours of shelling, Confederate Gen. George Pickett led two brigades in an assault on the Union position. Lee was forced to retreat and abandon his invasion.
The battle was a crushing defeat for the Confederacy, and losses were devastating on both sides. Union casualties numbered 23,, while the Confederates lost some 28, men.
Demoralized, Lee offered his resignation to President Jefferson Davis , but was refused. The Battle of Gettysburg took on even more significance in November , when President Lincoln traveled to the site and delivered the Gettysburg Address. In the famously short but powerful speech, Lincoln honored the sacrifice of the soldiers who died there and redefined the war as a struggle for the nation. July 22, : Near the end of the war, a trio of Union armies, led by Gen.
William T. Sherman converged upon Atlanta , where they were met outside the city by a desperate Confederate counterattack that failed. Finally, on September 1, Confederate Lt. The capture of Atlanta crippled the Confederate war effort. For Lincoln, who faced a difficult election in against one of his former generals, George B. McClellan , the victory provided a lift at the polls, helping him win and pursue the war to its conclusion. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us!
Twice a week we compile our most fascinating features and deliver them straight to you. In , the U. Congress passed the Kansas-Nebraska Act , which essentially opened all new territories to slavery by asserting the rule of popular sovereignty over congressional edict. On April 12, after Lincoln ordered a fleet to resupply Sumter, Confederate artillery fired the first shots of the Civil War.
Border slave states like Missouri , Kentucky and Maryland did not secede, but there was much Confederate sympathy among their citizens. Though on the surface the Civil War may have seemed a lopsided conflict, with the 23 states of the Union enjoying an enormous advantage in population, manufacturing including arms production and railroad construction, the Confederates had a strong military tradition, along with some of the best soldiers and commanders in the nation.
They also had a cause they believed in: preserving their long-held traditions and institutions, chief among these being slavery. George B. McClellan —who replaced the aging General Winfield Scott as supreme commander of the Union Army after the first months of the war—was beloved by his troops, but his reluctance to advance frustrated Lincoln. The combined forces of Robert E. Lincoln refused, and instead withdrew the Army of the Potomac to Washington. Halleck, though he remained in command of the Army of the Potomac.
On the heels of his victory at Manassas, Lee began the first Confederate invasion of the North. Despite contradictory orders from Lincoln and Halleck, McClellan was able to reorganize his army and strike at Lee on September 14 in Maryland, driving the Confederates back to a defensive position along Antietam Creek, near Sharpsburg.
Total casualties at the Battle of Antietam also known as the Battle of Sharpsburg numbered 12, of some 69, troops on the Union side, and 13, of around 52, for the Confederates. The Union victory at Antietam would prove decisive, as it halted the Confederate advance in Maryland and forced Lee to retreat into Virginia. It also had a major political effect in the Union election of The capture of Atlanta gave Lincoln enough of a boost in the polls that he was able to be reelected, something that was in doubt before the fall of the city.
Destruction of Charleston From November 15 to December 21st Sherman and his forces marched through Georgia, destroying everything in their path to disrupt the southern economy and transportation networks.
After the capture of Savannah, Sherman and his forces rested and then continued their march up the coast through the Carolina's. Lee had spent the previous year defending Richmond but decided at this point to try and move south to link up with other Confederate forces.
He was forced to retreat to Appomattox Court House by Union forces and in the end had no choice but to surrender. The documents signalling surrender were signed on April 9 and an official ceremony was held on April 12th disbanding the Army of Nothern Virginia that Lee had commanded. The effect of this was to end the war in Virginia and to trigger a wave of surrenders across remaining Confederate territory.
Grant was generous in his terms; he allowed for the surrendering Confederates to keep their sidearms and horses, imprisioned no one, and supplied Lee's army with food rations. Furthermore Grant forbade his own forces from celebrating their victory over the Confederates. It looks like you're using Internet Explorer 11 or older. This website works best with modern browsers such as the latest versions of Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge. Even though combined casualties were relatively few around 4, as a result of the battle, the North realized they were in for a long, bitter war.
The army planned to move south and capture an important Confederate east-west railway hub in northern Mississippi. The Union planned to unite two armies—under Ulysses S. Grant and Don Carlos Buell—and then take Corinth. Beauregard—the new Confederate general after Johnston was mortally wounded—withdrew. The battle resulted in combined casualties of more than 23, people. Lee had decided to take the war to the North.
He devised a plan to split his army and take supplies to Maryland, move into Pennsylvania, and threaten Washington, D. His plans fell into Union hands, and the Union Army marched to confront the force he commanded at Antietam Creek, in northern Maryland. However, the Union General McClellan, known for his cautious approach to engaging in battle, responded tentatively, waiting 18 hours before moving his troops. This gave the Confederates time to bring in reinforcements.
Although Lincoln was furious that McClellan allowed Lee to escape, he used the occasion to announce the Emancipation Proclamation. Lincoln replaced McClellan, but his new generals lost decisively at Fredericksburg, Virginia December 13, , and Chancellorsville, Virginia April 30, —May 4, These Confederate victories encouraged Lee to renew his plan to invade the North. The forces met at the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, on the morning of the first of July. Despite early successes, the Confederate forces were not able to drive the Union Army off their ground.
The following day, as reinforcements arrived for both sides, Lee again failed to dislodge the Union Army. The thrid of July saw one last push from the Confederates. Although the charge broke through Union lines, the Confederates were unable to consolidate their gains, and retreated.
Lee prepared for the counterattack he expected the next day, but it never came. He withdrew his forces on the fourth of July, and the Union Army did not pursue.
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