By the end of the Civil War’s second year, after many grueling battles already taking place along the countryside, Union forces had gained control over the majority of the Mississippi River. Apart from one vital stretch between Port Hudson and Vicksburg, where few northern boats dared to test the confederate controlled boundaries, the Union utilized America’s major trade route to transport supplies and products. From the onset of the Civil War, both Presidents understood that who controlled the Mississippi River controlled the lifeblood of America. As a result, the occupation of Vicksburg was Abraham Lincoln’s goal and obsession during his presidency in the White House; he declared it the key to winning against southern independence. Opposition leader Jefferson Davis of the Confederacy, declared Vicksburg’s strategic importance as “the nailhead that held the South’s two halves together.” For both armies the Siege of Vicksburg held symbolic importance, where they fought to the death. Ultimately for the Confederates, Vicksburg dictated their future for legitimacy, as a loss would undermine their status of nationhood. Developed by circumstances, it was the location where the two main forces went head to head and neither side could afford to blunder.
Previous to the 1863 Siege of Vicksburg, the campaigns of the Civil War resulted in strain amongst the nation. As a matter of fact, the Battle of New Orleans and the failure of the Vicksburg Campaign of 1862 are considered the most influential battles that contributed to Ulysses S. Grants victory of Vicksburg during 1863. Beginning on April 25, 1862 officer David G. Farragut and his squadron of 43 ships conducted the inevitable offensive against New Orleans. With a swiping furry of for...
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...ou are the most advanced, strength and power triumphs speed.
Since the beginning, General Ulysses S. Grant understood that outmaneuvering the Confederate army or occupying certain areas on the map would not decide the outcome of the Civil War. Henceforth, with the commencement of the Vicksburg Campaign on April 28, 1863 Grant seized the initiative based from the operational level of war continuing on until the finish. Believing in the ultimate goal of peace, Grants objective during the campaign was in total war against the Confederate army. Every military operation Grant conducted was exercised toward the destruction and unconditional surrender of the enemy. What he believed and fought for was revolved completely around attaining peace as fast as possible.
After trying a plethora of methods to cross the Mississippi River, deemed unsuccessful Grant reached out
Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederate States of America, showed weaknesses within his leadership which may have contributed to the confederacy’s loss and the unions win . Davis failed in three vital ways. These ways were: his relations with other confederate authorities and with the people, as well as in his fundamental concept of his job as president and in his organization and specific handling of his role as commander in chief . Davis failed in maintaining communication with leaders and with his people, often unable to admit when he is wrong which led to lack organization in his role . In addition, Davis was a conservative leader, not a revolutionary one which meant that his strength was often in protocol and convention rather than in innovation . Studying each of these aspects that represented a weakness in Jefferson Davis’s leadership, Lincoln in comparison provided more admirable and outstanding qualities within his leadership which in many ways affected the outcome of the war
General Richard Sherman’s march to the sea has just finished. After successful capturing Atlanta, Georgia, General Sherman directed his Union army to Savannah, Georgia. Along the way, northerners wreaked havoc on Southern cotton mills and destroy train tracks while completely uprooting 20 percent of Georgian plantations. This effectively halted the Confederate’s means of transportation and economic structure subsequently w...
...ces. The weary Confederate forces were overcome and Van Dorn ordered a withdrawal. The battle had been won by the Union (Battle). Van Dorn went across the Mississippi, abandoning all of the operations west of on the western side of it. Therefore, the Union controlled all of the area to the west of the Mississippi. The Union kept control of this area for 2 more years before there was any dispute. By controlling one whole front of the war, the Union's victory was much easier and more probable than before.
The Battle of Fredericksburg is remembered as the Confederate Army’s most one-sided victory in its campaign against the Union Forces of the North. It was the first battle to occur shortly after President Abraham Lincoln had delivered his “Emancipation Proclamation” and the President was hard pressed for a victory to bolster public support for it. It would be remembered as the first major campaign for the newly appointed General of the Army of the Potomac. General Ambrose E. Burnside was given command of the Union Army due to an increased frustration President Abraham Lincoln was experiencing with his predecessor. However, General Burnside’s inexperience would cost him dearly on the battlefield. Historical data and battlefield analysis reports show what led to the Unions defeat at Fredericksburg. An alternative outcome was possible had General Burnside
The great success of the raid was however, in forcing Pemberston to detach troops to follow him. Grant also detached a division of Sherman troops to feint an attack North of the city. This causes Pemberston to send troops guarding the Southern approaches to the North. Thus when Grant crossed with all of his forces he was not opposed. Once across instead of attacking Vicksburg, Grant moved eastward towards Jackson the state capital. There, Confederate General Johnson was putting together a forces to oppose Grant. Grant's forces quickly overwhelmed the confederates in Jackson. In four additional battles Grants forces totally decimated Confederate forces. After defeating all of the field armies that he faced, Grant then attacked Vicksburg itself on May 19th.
The Battle of Cold Harbor in spring of 1864 was one of General Ulysses S. Grant’s worst offensive defeats during the Civil War. Grant failed to describe his mission command to his subordinate, direct his units to correct movement, understand his operational environment, and lead his army with a coordinated plan. Grant had a stronger, bigger, and better-equipped army than his enemy, but his failure in the mission command process led to fatal mistakes before and during the battle. Due to failed leadership, the Union preparation for this war was so poor that it suffered nearly 7,000 casualties in under an hour, making it one of the most brutal confrontations of the Civil War.
... by the war and fight more viciously. Lincoln was very careful not to underestimate his enemies in the South and sternly advised the American public not to get overconfident, “Let us not be over-sanguine of a speedy final triumph. Let us diligently apply the means, never doubting that just God, in His good time, will us the right result.” The siege of Vicksburg was in many ways the hardest blow to the South, because they lost their control of the river there, and lost communication with their western territories. In many respects, this was the day that I believe most of the southern soldiers believed the war had ended, and with Sherman making his march, the psychological impact was devastating. Without their beliefs, their way of life taken away, they had no reason to fight, and no reason to continue fighting because if Old Dixie could fall, so could anyone else.
The city of Vicksburg, Mississippi, 250 feet high, overlooks the Mississippi River on the Louisiana-Mississippi state border. Confederate forces mounted artillery batteries ready to challenge the passage of Union ships. Receiving control of Vicksburg and the Mississippi River was a huge benefit in the war. Due to the Geographic location made it ideal for defense.
... or ending the war, because it was the only rail junction connecting Richmond to the rest of the Confederacy. Faced with the need to defend a line running continuously from north of Richmond to Petersburg, the Confederates were stretched thinner and thinner. Eventually their line broke. Within a little over a week it was over. The final year of the Civil War was something new in the history of warfare - never before had two large armies remained locked in continuous combat for such a long period of time. In the past the armies would fight, retreat, regroup, and usually meet at some later date and place but in 1864-65 even though they moved around some it was almost one continuous fight to the end.
Ulysses S. Grant’s success on the Western front had made him somewhat of a “hero" in particular to the Vicksburg campaign. Grant came from humble backgrounds and was unlike the previous five Union Generals before him. His “aggressive” new strategy would be later called, "a war of exhaustion." His plan was to attack the Confederacy on five fronts, with most importantly, the Army of the Potomac relentlessly striking Lee, driving his army southward, towards Richmond. The bloodiest battles of the war pursued in the East beginning with the dreadful Battle of the Wilderness. The Wilderness battle alone would take around “17 percent of each ar...
September 16-18, 1862, outside of the town of Sharpsburg, Maryland, between the Potomac River and Antietam Creek, was the location of the bloodiest battle in American history. Confederate Colonel Stephen D. Lee described it as “Artillery Hell” because of the frightful toll on his gunners and horses from Federal counter battery and infantry fire. (AotW, 2014) The battle of Antietam, or the Battle of Sharpsburg, would collect an estimated 23,100 total casualties (Luvaas and Nelson, 1987). The body count far exceeded any of the other three battles waged in the Maryland Campaign (Harpers Ferry, South Mountain, and Shepherdstown). This battle was a contributing factor in the outcome of our country and the rest of the world. The Union Army desperately needed a victory at Antietam; however, a victory for the Confederate rebels may have very well gained them international recognition as a sovereign country in the eyes of the rest of the world. The Federal Army, which belonged to the Union States, consisted of an all-volunteer army and was a larger army than the Confederate States. Even though the Battle of Antietam was inconclusive, President Lincoln went on to read the Emancipation Proclamation to the country, effectively ending slavery, and ensuring that no foreign nation would intervene on the Confederates behave.
The last battle of the Civil War, is the Battle of Vicksburg. General Ulysses S. Grant after so many attempts in trying to capture the fort of Vicksburg to have total control of the Mississippi River, Grant surrounds the town for an easy surrender from the Confederacy. With the Mississippi River controlled by Union hands, the Confederates outcome was sealed. A year after the Battle of Vicksburg, Abraham Lincoln officially puts General Grant in command of the Union army. In November 1864, President Lincoln is re-elected, for his second term for the presidency.
“The result of the last week must convince you of the hopelessness of further resistance… [I] regard it as my duty to shift from myself the responsibility for further [loss] of blood, by asking you surrender [of] the Army of Northern Virginia.” is what General Ulysses S. Grant as the highest ranking officer of the Union Army, wrote to the opposing the highest ranking officer of the opposing Confederate army, General Robert E. Lee on April 7, 1865. (Alter, 2002) In 1861, the Southern states of the United States of America had seceded from the Union, forming the Confederate States of America, and President Lincoln deciding it was worth it to bring them back, declared war, sparking the American Civil War. (Gaines, 2009) Grant joined the army and was quickly promoted to general-in-chief, and despite a few setbacks, managed to force the Confederates to surrender after forcing their forces from the Rapidan River to the James River in a manner one soldier describe simply as "unspoken, unspeakable history." in 1865. (Civil War Trust, 2013) Four years later, Grant was voted as the United States president at forty six years old – the youngest president at that time. (Simon, 2013) Grant tried to help ease racial tensions during his term, but his presidency is most remembered as one filled with scandal. (PBS, 2013) From a humble background, to a soldier, and after some time, to a gifted and experienced general, eventually becoming a president, Grant fought his entire life as hard as he could for what he believed in, through both hardship and peace, helping America in many ways.
If Civil Wars could be represented by a single person, the personification of the struggle in the United States between the North and the South would be a frightful individual to behold. Unfortunately, for Jefferson Davis, his life and temperament came close to embodying the gruesome inward fight of the American Civil War (or at least the Southern part). As men go, he was labeled an enigma. He was both a contradiction and a confirmation of himself, unpredictable yet foreseeable. His insecurities were major weaknesses. Without the special skills of a “people person”, he was thrust into a position of leadership over unorganized and untrained men. Despite these things, Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederacy, attempted to overcome all of it. In this way, he exemplified the Civil War and the further internal strains of the American South.
On April 12 1861, Confederate troops attacked Fort Sumter in Charleston and this event started the Civil War. Once Ulysses heard of the news, he quickly left his position as clerk at his family store to volunteer for military service in the Union army. He was first offered a position recruiting and training volunteer troops in Illinois and he accepted although he wanted field command in the actual army. On June 14, 1861, Grant was assigned colonel of the 21st Illinois Infantry, but on August 9th President Abraham Lincoln promoted Grant to Brigadier General. Ulysses’ first battle was on November 17th, 1861 when Grant and his army attacked Fort Belmont but was counterattacked and had to fall back. Although no one really won this battle, it was good experience for Grant and his troops. Grant’s first major victories took place in February 1862. On Feb. 6th, Grant, along with the help of Union Navy Flag Officer Andrew H. Foote, took over Fort Henry easily and ten days later defeated Confederate General Gideon J. Pillow at Fort Donelson. After these victories, Lincoln promotes Grant as Major General of Volunteers and gets the nickname “Unconditional Surrender”. Grant’s advancement on Fort Henry and Donel...