1863: THE WAR TIPS TO THE NORTH

The darkest days of the war for the Union occurred in late 1862 and early 1863, The Union army suffered major defeats at the Battle of Fredericksburg (December 13, 1862) and at the Battle of Chancellorsville (May 1 to 3,1863). Competent leadership of the Union army remained a major problem.

Yet time was an enemy of the Confederate army. As commander, General Robert E. Lee found it increasingly difficult to get men and resources (the Northern naval blockade definitely was affecting Southern military efforts by this point). In June of 1863, Lee decided to move the Confederate army out of Virginia into Pennsylvania. At the Battle of Gettysburg (July 1 to 3, 1863). Lee was defeated by the Union army, commanded by General George Meade. This was the bloodiest overall battle of the war, with 24,000 casualties suffered by the North and 28,000 by the South. Lee’s army was forced to retreat to Virginia and would never again be able to mount an attack into Northern territory. Some military historians claim that the fate of the Confederate army was scaled by their defeat at Gettysburg.

The tide of the war continued to swing to the North as a result of several victories by armies commanded by Ulysses S. Grant. On July 4, 1863, Grant completed his victory at Vicksburg, ending a siege of the city that lasted six weeks. Victory at Vicksburg gave the Union virtual control of the Mississippi River. In November Grant was victorious at the Battle of Chattanooga (November 23 to 25, 1863). Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address had been given four days earlier. In January of 1864 Grant was made commander of the Union army. At the same time, some in the Confederate government began speaking of the need for peace negotiations with the North.

Grant and the Army of the Potomac began to advance toward Richmond in the spring of 1864, while an army commanded by William T. Sherman began to advance toward Atlanta.