Civil_War_Turning_Point

=**The War's Turning Point**= U nion General George B. McClellan had not moved quick enough to destroy Lee's army and was relieved of his command of the Army of the Potomac in November 1862 and replaced by General Ambrose Burnside. General Burnside had led a successful attack on part of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia in the Battle of Antietam, and is famous in history for the construction of the Burnside Bridge at Antietam. Burnside also had successes the previous year in coastal North Carolina. Furthermore, Burnside didn't have political ambitions. Burnside felt he wasn't qualified to command but accepted the position on November 7, 1862 since Lincoln told him McClellan would be replaced regardless. He devised a plan to attack Richmond by first going through Fredericksburg, which was an important city on the Rappahannock River. The Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, under General Robert E. Lee, was retreating from Antietam and had a battle line along the Rapidan River. Burnside wanted to get into Richmond without Lee knowing and attack Richmond before Lee could mount a defense. However, the pontoons that Burnside needed were slow to arrive and he decided to wait for all of the pontoons in order to have the army cross at the same time. Burnside wanted to cross the river and go into Fredericksburg. Union General Winfield Scott Hancock warned Burnside that waiting to cross the river would hurt the Union and pressed Burnside to allow him to cross the river early in order to attack the Confederates before the were concentrated. Burnside was unwilling to change his plans and decided to wait until the entire army could cross the river together, which showed Burnside's negative characteristic of being inflexible. Furthermore, when crossing, the Union engineers didn't have propert materials to make quality bridges. The pontoons crossed under heavy Confederate fire in December of 1862. Burnside devised a two-pronged attack. One part of his attack would be launched south of Fredericksburg, which was defended by Stonewall Jackson. The second part was on the Confederate left flank at Marye's Heights. The Confederates held off the Union since they were protected by a stone wall. Furthermore, they had a fortified position in a sunken road. Fourteen Union brigades charged without one success and Burnside was ordered (by Washington D.C.) to retreat. Union morale went down drastically, while the South's morale was very high after the battle. Burnside would try to renew the attack, but was bogged down in mud (called the "Mud March") in January of 1863. The Battle of Fredericksburg ended as a major Confederate victory.
 * Battle of Fredericksburg:**

Ambrose Burnside resigned his command of the Union Army of the Potomac and replaced by General Joseph "Fighting Joe" Hooker, who had a reputation of coolness and self-preservation. Lincoln liked him since he was the rowdy fighting-type he was looking for to lead the Union army. Lincoln realized the need to focus on Lee's army and not necessarily Richmond, but believed that bringing Richmond under attack would force Lee into a major decisive battle. Hooker's plan was to attack Richmond from the northwest. Lee estimated correctly that the Union's main threat would come from Union troops at Chancellorsville. The Battle of Chancellorsville would take place from April 30 to May 6, 1863. Despite being outnumbered, Lee sensed that he had a psychological advantage, so he launched an attack. Lee and Jackson were convinced that they could surprise the Union by moving on terrain in which the Union didn't have any knowledge. General J.E.B. Stuart led the cavalry and scouted needed information for Lee. Lee sent Jackson with 30,000 men with Stuart's cavalry, while Lee concentrated 15,000 on Hooker's main force. This move was a gamble by Lee since he hoped Hooker wouldn't attack while Jackson was on the move. Also, Jackson had to march 12 miles without being detected. Hooker had sent his cavalry to raid Richmond, so they were unable to scount Jackson's move. Infantrymen detected Jackson, but Hooker misinterpreted the information. Jackson attacked Hooker's right flank, which was a surprise attack. Jackson had marched his forces through woods, which were seen as impassable, as the Union troops were relaxing for supper. Lee also attacked the main force. The Confederates were driving the Union back. Incompetence of Union General Oliver Howard (XI Corps) is also part of the cause of Jackson success since Howard didn't prepare the right flank for defense as ordered to by General Hooker. The Union III Corps under General Daniel Sickles was in between Lee and Jackson but was ordered to give up his ground by Hooker since Hooker wasn't sure if Sickles would be able to hold the ground. This gave the Confederates the Hazel Grove. General Jackson rode ahead of his lines at night to scout the Union positions. On his return, Jackson was shot by friendly fire by accident. He would have his left arm amputed, but later pneumonia would set in and Jackson died. Lee said "Jackson lost his left arm, and I lost my right," which showed the Lee depended on Jackson. Through the remainder of the battle Hooker was passive and expected his subordinates to mount attacks. Hooker's actions at the end of the battle are attributed to him having received a concussion after being knocked unconsious when a Confederate cannonball hit a wooden pillar that would then hit Hooker. Eventually his officers agree to attack, but Hooker would order a retreat. The Battle of Chancellorsville became known as Lee's greatest victory. General Lee became immortal in the minds of his men since he successfully defended two Union assaults. With this high morale and feeling of invincibility, Lee was looking to invade the North and end the war. Hooker would be relieved of command on June 28, 1863.
 * Battle of Chancellorsville: **

In the western theater, the Union saw Vicksburg as a major city necessary for control of the Mississippi River. Union General Ulysses S. Grant commanded the Army of the Tennessee and looked to attack Confederate General John Pemberton and the Army of Mississippi. Confederate cavalry commander Nathan Bedford Forrest was key in pressuring the Union flank and delaying their advancements, which caused the Union to move more slowly. Grant's army had to turn before Vicksburg, rather than launching a major attack on the city. Grant would attack Port Hudson, then attack Vicksburg by land. Grant was able to hold off Pemberton at Champion Hill. After several unsuccessful attacks in an attempt to take Vicksburg, Grant laid siege on Vicksburg. The people in Vicksburg were trapped and hungry as Grant maintained the siege. Residents began to tear up floorboards in smokehouses to extract the salt for meat. Some people were so hungry they began eating dogs and cats. Vicksburg finally fell on July 4, 1863. Admiral David Farragut went north on the Mississippi River and won battles in New Orleans and Mobile Bay.
 * Battle of Vicksburg: **

In June of 1863, General George Meade became the commander of the Union Army of the Potomac. Confederate General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia was marching north in pursuit of the Union army. Lee's army marched through Maryland and into Pennsylvania. Lee's goal was to draw the Army of the Potomac into the open and destroy the biggest Union army. Lee knew a letter was prepared to be put on President Lincoln's desk upon his victory over the Army of the Potomac, a letter offering peace. When Lee found out that Meade was the new commander, he felt that Meade would be cautious and see looked to move more quickly. Confederate commander of the First Army Corps, General James Longstreet, had hired Henry Harrison, an actor, to scout the enemy position. Harrison found and reported to Longstreet that the Union was marching their way. Lee was disturbed that he hadn't heard from his cavalry commander, General J.E.B. Stuart, who had be very valuable to Lee on scouting the enemy. Stuart was leading attacks against parts of the Union further west and was unaware of the action at Gettysburg. Stuart failed to report all Union actions and assess Union strength at the start of battle. Lee decided to concentrate at Gettysburg. The first day of battle would be July 1, 1863. Union cavalry commander General John Buford scouted the rebels marching toward Gettysburg and new that if they were halted, that the Confederates would get control of the high ground around Gettysburg. However, Buford had a force of 2,500 and would have to hold off an enemy force of 20,000 until the Union infantry would be able to get to Gettysburg. Buford knew that if Lee got the higher ground, the Union's chances would be very tough to win. Fortunately for the Union, Buford was able to hold off the Confederates until Union corps commander General John Reynolds was able to arrive with the infantry. The first day of battle wasn't planned, as Confederate General Henry Heth was marching into Gettysburg in search of shoes for his soldiers when Buford was set up waiting for him. The Confederates missed an opportunity on the first day to take control of Culp's Hill. Confederate corps commander General Richard Ewell was ordered to advance up the heights if practical. Ewell felt his soldiers marched a long way and didn't want to chance taking Culp's Hill even though it was empty. By evening, Union soldiers were on Culp's Hill cutting down trees to fortify the position. Confederate General Isaac Trimble went to Lee in disgust of Ewell's lack of making a key decision. After the first day of battle, the Confederates set up a line on Seminary Ridge while the Union was on higher ground on Cemetery Ridge. Longstreet tried to talk Lee into redeploying into the open to get the Union of the heights, but Lee was convinced his army could drive the Union backwards. On July 2, 1863 the main part of the Confederate attack would be on the Union left on Little Round Top while also attack Culp's Hill on the Union right. The charge up Little Round Top would be led by two of Longstreet's divisions, one led by General John Bell Hood and the other by General Lafayette McLaws. There was initial Confederate success pushing the Union through the Wheatfield and the Peach Orchard. The Confederates continued to charge over Devil's Den and the Slaughter Pen on their way up Little Round Top. Union General Gouverneur Warren noticed that Little Round Top was empty and that if the Confederates were able to get to the top of Little Round Top, the Union line would be flanked, and the Confederates would destroy the Union army. Warren ordered Union soldiers to get to Little Round Top, which was accomplished five minutes before the Confederates began charging up the hill. Colonel Joshua Chamberlain led the 20th Maine Regiment, which would be the extreme left of the Union line on Little Round Top and was ordered to not give up his position under any circumstances. After defending several Confederate charges, the 20th Maine was out of ammunition and unable to get resupplied before the next Confederate assault and to the right of the 20th Maine regiments were under attack. Chamberlain then ordered a bayonet charge, which was successful and saved the day for the Union. After two days of fighting, Lee assessed that the Union would be weakest in the center since the Union had to strengthen both flanks. Longstreet again tried to talk Lee into redeploying, but Lee new the morale of his men was high and felt withdrawing would be devastating to his soldiers. Lee would order a Napoleonic assault on the Union center using Longstreet to lead divisions led by General George Pickett, General Johnston Pettigrew, and General Isaac Trimble. Pickett's Division, which consisted of General Lewis Armistead, General Richard Garnett, and General James Kemper), was to be the head of the charge, and came to be called Pickett's Charge. The goal of Pickett's Charge was to converge on the copse of trees on the Union center, which was being defended by Union General Winfield Scott Hancock. Confederate artiller commander E. Porter Alexander was unable to drive the Union off of the ridge as ordered by Lee and was running out of ordinance to support the infantry assault. Reluctantly, James Longstreet ordered the charge. Armistead's Brigade did make it to the stone wall near the copse of trees, but Confederates had lost high numbers on the charge, which was over a mile over open ground, that the Union was able to win the battle. The Battle of Gettysburg was the most devastating battle of the war, with 53,000 killed or wounded. It would be the turning point of the Civil War. Lee set up defenses in case the Union attacked his depleted forces, but Meade didn't attack. Lee withdrew from Gettysburg July 4, 1863 (the same day Vicksburg fell to the Union and Grant in the west). Even though the Union won, the spirit of the South was still high and had enough power to keep fighting.
 * Battle of Gettysburg: **