Section 5:

Decisive
Battles

By: Christian Paglia & Connor Gambino
Key Terms and People
Siege- an attempt to capture a place by surrounding it
with military forces and cutting it off until the people
inside surrender.
Total war- all out attacks aimed at destroying an
enemys army, its resources, and its peoples will to
fight
William Tecumseh Sherman- Union general who
believed in the concept of total war.


Confederate Victories
The war turned bad for the North after the Unions victory at the
Battle of Antietam due to poor leadership. Lincoln replaced
General McClellan with General Ambrose Burnside.
Burnside led a charge of 120,000 men against General Robert
E. Lees 75,000 men in Fredericksburg, Virginia, ending in a
Union defeat.
Lincoln now turned to Joseph Hooker, whose army was later
destroyed by a Confederation force half its size.


On July 1, 1863, Confederate soldiers looted the town of
Gettysburg looking for shoes, because a Union blockade
created a short supply, and instead encountered and fought
Union soldiers.
More soldiers joined, and 85,000 Union soldiers, led by General
George Meade, fought 75,000 Confederates led by General
Lee.
On July 3, Lee ordered an all out attack of 15,000 soldiers on
the Union frontlines, led by General George E. Pickett. This
attack is later known as Picketts Charge.
As Confederates closed in, Union artillery shells and rifle fire
covered them, killing most of the soldiers. Confederates who
reached the lines retreated.
The Battle of Gettysburg
On July 4, 1863, as Lee retreated from Gettysburg, Vicksburg on the
Mississippi River was captured by General Ulysses S. Grant.
Grant knew he couldnt fight to capture the city, so he laid siege, or
surround the city and cutting it off from suppliers.
Residents were put in cellars and caves and had to eat mules and rats
to survive until they all surrendered.
Grant used this tactics to capture the Mississippi River which this and
Gettysburg made a huge turning point in the war for the North.
The Fall of Vicksburg
In November, Lincoln and other people gathered on the
battlefield of Gettysburg to honor those who died in the battle.
Lincoln believed a final Union victory was near, and he said to
the people, We here highly resolve that these dead shall not
have died in vain- that this nation, under God, shall have a new
birth of freedom- and that the government of the people, by the
people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth
The Gettysburg Address
As the new commander, Grant decided to attack Richmond,
Virginia no matter how big the Union losses were.
Grants troops couldnt break through Lees troops, but he kept
attacking.
Then, the Union army attacked Petersburg, an important
railroad station in Virginia, using Grants siege tactic.


The Siege of Petersburg
As Grant besieged Petersburg, another Union army led by
General William Sherman marched toward Atlanta.
Sherman broke through the Confederates defenses and
captured Atlanta on September 2, 1864.
Shermans capture of Atlanta gave Lincoln a huge reelection
boost and Lincoln won in a landslide over George McClellan.
Sherman ordered and burned Atlanta to the ground.
Sherman and Lincoln
In March 1865, Grants army still remained on the front of the
city.
On April 2, the Union army finally broke through the
Confederates lines and entered the city.
Lees army retreated to the town of Appomattox Court and
Lees escape was cut off.
Lee finally surrendered on April 9, 1865.
The terms of surrender were to give up the Confederates guns
and leave at peace.
About a half of a million men were killed in the war.
Peace at Last