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https://www.history.com/topics/american-civil-war/battle-of-gettysburg

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Battle of Gettysburg: Summary, Facts & Casualties | HISTORY

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The Battle of Gettysburg, fought over three hot summer days, from July 1 to July 3, 1863, is considered the most important engagement of the American Civil War. The South lost the battle—and many men—and it marked a turning point in the bloody war that left the South mostly on the defensive.

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https://www.history.com/topics/american-civil-war/battle-of-antietam

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The Significance of the Battle of Antietam

There was a lot at stake for the Battle of Antietam. By mid-summer 1862, President Abraham Lincoln had the Emancipation Proclamation -a document declaring freedom for all slaves in the so-called rebellious states-ready to go.

But after several unexpected and demoralizing Union losses, including Major General John Pope's sound defeat at the Second Battle of Bull Run, it became clear the Confederacy wasn't going to be easy to crush. Lincoln's cabinet feared releasing the Emancipation Proclamation at that time would seem desperate and be difficult to enforce, so Lincoln decided to wait until another decisive Union victory.

To further complicate matters, Republicans faced midterm elections in November of 1862, and their victory wasn't in the bag. Frustrated with Lincoln's policies and the course of the war, Democrats launched an anti-war campaign, hoping to take over the U.S. House of Representatives.

General Robert E. Lee also recognized dissent among Lincoln's ranks and hoped a battle victory on Union land might topple Lincoln's congressional support and help secure the Confederacy once and for all.

In Europe, France and Great Britain anxiously watched America's War Between the States. They'd remained on the sidelines so far, but as they endured cotton shortages and the south seemed to gain the upper hand, they considered legitimizing the Confederacy, a move with potentially drastic implications.

Setting the Stage for Battle

After Lee thwarted the plan of General George B. McClellan to lay siege to Richmond-the capital of the Confederate States of America-in the Peninsula Campaign in the spring and summer of 1862, McClellan retreated. Hoping to take advantage of the Union's low morale and seeming ineptitude, Lee chose to push his army north across the Potomac and into Maryland where they soon occupied the town of Frederick.

On September 9, Lee issued Special Order 191 defining his "Maryland Campaign." His plan to enter northern territory divided his army, sending each unit to march on a specific town: Boonsboro and Hagerstown in Maryland, and Harper's Ferry and Martinsburg in West Virginia.

Special Order 191

After the Confederates abandoned their campsite around Frederick, McClellan's army moved in. What happened next was pivotal: On September 13, two Union soldiers, Private Barton W. Mitchell and Sergeant John M. Bloss, discovered a copy of Special Order 191 with detailed Confederate troop movements, allegedly wrapped around three cigars.

Upon learning of the valuable find, an ecstatic McClellan reportedly exclaimed, "Here is a paper with which, if I cannot whip Bobby Lee, I will be willing to go home." He immediately moved his army in hopes of foiling Lee's battle plans.

And when Lee heard a copy of Special Order 191 was missing, he knew his scattered army was vulnerable and rushed to reunite its units.

On September 14, at the base of South Mountain near Sharpsburg, Confederate Generals D.H. Hill's and James Longstreet's units encountered Union resistance and sustained heavy casualties. Lee planned to retreat to Virginia, but changed his mind after hearing Confederate General Thomas Jonathan Jackson-better known as Stonewall Jackson -had captured Harper's Ferry.

Instead, Lee ordered his army to regroup at Antietam Creek near Sharpsburg.

Battle of Antietam Begins

The Battle of Antietam began at dawn on September 17 as the fog lifted. Longstreet's and Hill's units formed the Confederate right and center flanks to the west of Antietam Creek, while Jackson's and Brigadier General John G. Walker's units formed the Confederate left flank.

All of Lee's troops were worn-out and hungry, and many were sick. They watched and waited as McClellan's army assembled along the creek's east side. Union forces outnumbered Confederates by two to one, although McClellan thought Lee's forces were much larger.

Troops from both sides faced-off across a 30-acre cornfield owned by David Miller. Union troops fired first at the Confederate's left flank and the carnage began. Confederate troops ferociously fought off offensive after offensive to prevent being overrun, turning the cornfield into a massive killing field. Just eight hours in, there were over 15,000 casualties.

Bloody Lane

Near the center of the battlefield, another site of slaughter was a farm lane known as the "Sunken Road," where Hill's division of approximately 2,600 men had piled fence rails along the road's embankment to fortify their position against Union Major General William H. French's 5,500 approaching troops.

When French's troops arrived, fighting ensued at close range. Three hours later, Union troops had pushed the Confederates back and over 5,000 men were either dead or injured. The fighting was so gory Sunken Road earned a new name: Bloody Lane.

For more than three hours, fewer than 500 Confederate soldiers held Lower Bridge against multiple assaults by Union General Ambrose Burnside's Ninth Corps. After Burnside's troops finally took the bridge and had the Confederate right flank in sight, Confederate reinforcements arrived and pushed them back.

Battle of Antietam Ends

As night fell, thousands of bodies littered the sprawling Antietam battlefield and both sides regrouped and claimed their dead and wounded. Just twelve hours of intense and often close-range fighting with muskets and cannons had resulted in around 23,000 casualties, including an estimated 3,650 dead.

The next day, as Lee began the painstaking job of moving his ravaged troops back to Virginia, McClellan, surprisingly, did nothing. Despite having the advantage, he allowed Lee to retreat without resistance. From his point of view, he'd accomplished his mission of forcing Lee's troops from Maryland and preventing a Confederate win on Union soil.

President Lincoln, however, wasn't pleased. He thought McClellan missed a great opportunity to kick the Army of Northern Virginia while they were down and potentially end the war. After the war-weary general repeatedly refused Lincoln's orders to pursue Lee's retreating troops, Lincoln removed McClellan from command on November 5, 1862.

Union Claims Victory

Military historians consider the Battle of Antietam a stalemate. Even so, the Union claimed victory. And keeping Confederates in their southern box enabled President Lincoln to finally release his Emancipation Proclamation on September 22, 1862.

Ironically, Lincoln's proclamation didn't free slaves in Maryland-one of a handful of slave states that had remained in the Union-since it only applied to slaves in rebel states. Still, it endorsed the idea that the war wasn't just about states' rights but also stopping slavery.

The Union's claim of victory at Antietam and Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation are thought to be why Republicans held the House in the 1862 mid-term elections. They also ended any hope of France and Great Britain acknowledging the Confederacy and coming to their aid. This further isolated the Confederacy and made it harder for them to re-supply their troops and citizens.

There has never been a bloodier day in American military history than September 17, 1862. Not only did the Battle of Antietam change the course of the Civil War, it also brought to light the horror of war in a way never seen before, thanks to photographer Alexander Gardner's dramatic battlefield photographs.

Perhaps the reality of the battle was best described by Union soldier Charles Goddard in a letter to his mother: "If the horrors of war cannot be seen on this battlefield, they can't be seen any where."

Sources

Lost Order, Lost Cause. Central Intelligence Agency.
The Battle of Antietam: A Turning Point in the Civil War. The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History.
The Battle of Antietam. National Park Service.
The Maryland Campaign of 1862. Civil War Trust.
The Peninsula Campaign. Encyclopedia Virginia.
The Significance of the Battle of Antietam. Antietam on the Web.
Special Orders No. 191. National Park Service.
Why did Lee Enter Maryland? Antietam on the Web.

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Battle of Antietam - Winner, Date & Civil War | HISTORY

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The Battle of Antietam was a pivotal, bloody Civil War skirmish on September 17, 1862, that halted Confederate momentum on the battlefield and abroad.

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https://www.britannica.com/event/First-Battle-of-Bull-Run-1861

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This article was most recently revised and updated by

First Battle of Bull Run, also called First Battle of Manassas , Battle of First Manassas, or Manassas Junction, (July 21, 1861), in the American Civil War, the first of two engagements fought at a small stream named Bull Run, near Manassas in northern Virginia. (Civil War battles often had one name in the North, which was usually associated with a prominent nearby physical feature, and another in the South, which was usually derived from the town or city closest to the battlefield.) The strategic significance of the location lay in the fact that Manassas was an important railroad junction.

The armies gather

In the days following the Battle of Fort Sumter, the Union capital at Washington, D.C., strengthened its defenses and secured its railway connection with the North through Baltimore via the Baltimore and Ohio (B&O) railway. Washington's other significant rail line, the Orange and Alexandria, ran southwest to Lynchburg, Virginia; control of this line would be much contested in the days to come. It was joined at Manassas Junction, 30 miles (48 km) southwest of Washington, by the Manassas Gap railway from Strasburg in the Shenandoah Valley.

American Civil War Events

Robert E. Lee, commanding the Virginia state forces, was loath to become the aggressor in the expanding conflict and refrained from attacking Washington or supporting Confederate sympathizers in Baltimore. U.S. Pres. Abraham Lincoln had proclaimed a blockade of Confederate ports (April 19) and called for 42,000 three-year volunteers and 40,000 more men to join the regular army and navy (May 3). Lincoln was awaiting the result of Virginia's referendum on secession (May 23) and scrupulously avoided any violation of Virginian territory, although Federal troops crossed the Potomac (May 24) and, without opposition, occupied the south bank for the protection of the capital. Although Winfield Scott, the commanding general of the Union army, had little faith in state militia units, he proposed to use them to defend Washington and recover the Federal garrison at Harpers Ferry, while he trained the newly raised volunteers for an autumn campaign.

After Virginia voted overwhelmingly in favour of secession, Lee, acting as military adviser to Confederate Pres. Jefferson Davis, gathered two armies, one under Brig. Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard at Manassas Junction, the other at Harpers Ferry under Brig. Gen. Joseph E. Johnston. When Union Maj. Gen. Robert Patterson threatened Harpers Ferry with a larger force, Johnston evacuated his post on June 15 and fell back, covering the Manassas Gap railway.

While Scott continued to urge caution regarding the use of militia troops, in Washington there was a demand that Beauregard should be attacked before the three-month term of the militia's service expired. "On to Richmond," the new capital of the Confederacy, was the popular cry. Because the infirm 75-year-old Scott was unable to conduct field operations, he had appointed Gen. Irvin McDowell as field commander of the forces south of the Potomac. On June 24 McDowell submitted a plan of operations that overruled Scott's recommendations. With 30,000 men he proposed to drive Beauregard's force of 20,000 back behind the Rappahannock, provided that Patterson prevented Johnston from joining Beauregard. The plan was approved, and McDowell advanced from Alexandria on July 16.

"There stands Jackson like a stone wall!"

After initial skirmishing at Blackburn's Ford on July 18, Beauregard's forces retired behind Bull Run in defensive positions. McDowell, discovering that the Confederate right and centre were too strong for a frontal assault, undertook a flanking movement around the enemy left. His delay in advancing, however, would prove the undoing of his plan. Upon perceiving the Union movements, Beauregard notified the authorities in Richmond by telegraph, and Johnston, then facing Patterson's army near Winchester, was ordered to join Beauregard as quickly as possible. Johnston was able to mask his intentions and, utilizing the Manassas Gap railroad, moved 10,000 troops to Bull Run. Johnston arrived on the scene July 20 and, as the ranking general, accepted Beauregard's plan of attack against Centreville, a town some 5 miles (8 km) to the east. Before the attack could be launched, however, the Union army assaulted the Confederate left on July 21.

McDowell took personal command of two of his four divisions, controlling the turning movement at Sudley Ford, while one division executed a feint at the Stone Bridge and the last remained at Blackburn's Ford in reserve. McDowell's inexperienced troops arrived at Sudley Ford more than two hours late. Confederate Col. Nathan Evans, who had been left to guard the Stone Bridge, quickly assessed that the attack on the bridge was merely a demonstration, and he was able to move 11 of his 15 companies to Matthews Hill above Sudley Springs. There he was supported by brigades commanded by Barnard Bee, Francis Bartow, and Thomas Jackson.

About 9:15 am the Federal troops came under Confederate fire and were forced to deploy, but two hours later McDowell's flanking threat caused Evans, Bee, and Bartow to withdraw in disorder to the Henry House Hill. Jackson's First Brigade stood firm, however, and Bee reportedly shouted to his men, "There is Jackson standing like a stone wall! Let us determine to die here, and we will conquer! Rally behind the Virginians!" The Union assault was checked, but both Bee and Bartow were mortally wounded while leading their troops.

The fighting at Henry House Hill was severe, and about 1:30 pm, McDowell brought up two artillery batteries to the fighting line. A Confederate regiment, being mistaken for friendly troops and allowed to approach, silenced the guns with close rifle fire. From that time, though the hill was taken and retaken several times, the Union attack made no further headway. At 2:45 pm, with more of Beauregard's troops having come up, Jackson's brigade launched a bayonet charge on the wavering Union lines. At the same time, the Union troops were assailed by the last brigades of Johnston's army, which had arrived at the critical moment from the railway. The Federal forces gave way at once, and a Confederate artillery barrage turned the retreat into a panicked flight to the Potomac. The victors were also exhausted and did not pursue, although Johnston moved to the heights around Centreville.

Casualties and assessment

McDowell's army of 28,450 suffered 460 killed and 1,124 wounded, with over 1,300 listed as missing or captured. Beauregard and Johnston's 32,230 Confederates lost 387 killed and 1,582 wounded, with just 13 reported missing or captured.

In the end Bull Run arguably did more harm to the victors than to the defeated. Southern leaders undeniably rested on their laurels, confident in the seemingly justified belief that "one Southerner could whip ten Yankees." The delay enabled Gen. George McClellan, who was called to the chief military command at Washington, to raise, organize, and train the Army of the Potomac. Johnston meanwhile was similarly employed in fashioning the Army of Northern Virginia, which for four years carried the Confederacy on its bayonets. The humiliation of Bull Run provided focus to the unorganized enthusiasm of the North, which eventually coalesced into a determination to crush the rebellion at all costs.
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Adam Augustyn.

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First Battle of Bull Run | Summary, Casualties, & Facts

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First Battle of Bull Run, in the American Civil War, the first of two engagements fought at a small stream named Bull Run, near the key railroad junction of Manassas in northern Virginia. The battle ended in a rout of Union forces, but the exhausted Confederates were unable to capitalize on their victory.

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https://www.battlefields.org/learn/civil-war/battles/fort-sumter

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The attack on Fort Sumter marked the official beginning of the American Civil War-a war that lasted four years, cost the lives of more than 620,000 Americans, and freed 3.9 million enslaved people from bondage.

How it ended

Confederate victory. With supplies nearly exhausted and his troops outnumbered, Union major Robert Anderson surrendered Fort Sumter to Brig. Gen. P.G.T Beauregard's Confederate forces. Major Anderson and his men were allowed to strike their colors, fire a 100-gun salute, and board a ship bound for New York, where they were greeted as heroes. Both the North and South immediately called for volunteers to mobilize for war.

In context

By 1861, the country had already experienced decades of short-lived but ultimately failed compromises concerning the expansion of slavery in the United States and its territories. The election of Abraham Lincoln as president of the United States in 1860-a man who declared "I believe this government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free"-threatened the culture and economy of southern slave states and served as a catalyst for secession. On December 20, 1860, South Carolina seceded from the United States, and by February 2, 1861, six more states followed suit. Southern delegates met on February 4, 1861, in Montgomery, AL., and established the Confederate States of America, with Mississippi senator Jefferson Davis elected as its provisional president. Confederate militia forces began seizing United States forts and property throughout the south. With a lame-duck president in office, and a controversial president-elect poised to succeed him, the crisis approached a boiling point and exploded at Fort Sumter.

Before the Battle

In Charleston, the birthplace of secession, tempers are on edge. A delegation from the state goes to Washington, D.C., demanding the surrender of the Federal military installations in the new "independent republic of South Carolina." President James Buchanan refuses to comply. Charleston is the Confederacy's most important port on the Southeast coast. The harbor is defended by three federal forts: Sumter; Castle Pinckney, one mile off the city's Battery; and heavily armed Fort Moultrie, on Sullivan's Island. Major Anderson's command is based at Fort Moultrie, but with its guns pointed out to sea, it cannot defend a land attack. On December 26, Charlestonians awake to discover that Anderson and his tiny garrison of 90 men have slipped away from Fort Moultrie to the more defensible Fort Sumter. For secessionists, Anderson's move is, as one Charlestonian wrote to a friend, "like casting a spark into a magazine,"

Adding to the major's concern is his dangerously dwindling store of supplies. On January 5, 1861, the Star of the West departs from New York with some 200 reinforcements and provisions for the Sumter garrison. As the ship approaches Charleston Harbor on January 9, cadets from the Citadel fire, forcing the crew to abandon its mission. On March 1, Jefferson Davis orders Brig. Gen P.G.T. Beauregard to take command of the growing southern forces in Charleston. On April 4, Lincoln informs southern delegates that he intends to attempt to resupply Fort Sumter, as its garrison is now critically in need. To South Carolinians, any attempt to reinforce Sumter means war. "Now the issue of battle is to be forced upon us," declared the Charleston Mercury. "We will meet the invader, and the God of Battles must decide the issue between the hostile hirelings of Abolition hate and Northern tyranny."

On April 9, Davis and the Confederate cabinet decide to "strike a blow!" Davis orders Beauregard to take Fort Sumter. The next day, three of Beauregard's aides sail to the fort and courteously demand the garrison's surrender. Anderson is equally courteous, but refuses: "I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your communication demanding the evacuation of this fort, and to say, in reply thereto, that it is a demand with which I regret that my sense of honor, and of my obligations to my Government, prevent my compliance." He also informs the delegation that the garrison's supplies will only last until April 15.

During the Battle

April 12. At 4:30 a.m., a flaming mortar shot arcs into the air and explodes over Fort Sumter. On this signal, Confederate guns from fortifications and floating batteries around Charleston Harbor roar to life. Outmanned, outgunned, undersupplied, and nearly surrounded by enemy batteries, Anderson waits until around 7:00 a.m. to respond. Captain Abner Doubleday volunteers to fire the first cannon at the Confederates, a 32-pound shot that bounces off the roof of the Iron Battery on Cummings Point.

For nearly 36 hours the two sides keep up this unequal contest. A shell strikes the flagpole of Fort Sumter, and the American colors fall to the earth, only to be hoisted back up the hastily repaired pole. Confederates fire hotshot from Fort Moultrie into Fort Sumter. Buildings begin to burn within the fort. With no more resources, Anderson surrenders Fort Sumter to Confederate forces.

April 13. At 2:30 p.m., Maj. Anderson and his men strike their colors and prepare to leave the fort. Sadly, the only casualties at Fort Sumter come during the 100-gun salute, when a round explodes prematurely, killing Pvt. Daniel Hough and mortally wounding another soldier. The attack is over, but the war had just begun.

Aftermath

Following the evacuation of Major Robert Anderson and his Federal garrison on the afternoon of April 14, 1861, Fort Sumter is occupied initially by Confederate troops of Company B of the First South Carolina Artillery Battalion and a volunteer company of the Palmetto Guard, a local militia unit. The fort remains in Confederate hands for the next four years until all Confederate forces evacuate Charleston on the evening of February 17, 1865.

Despite having surrendered, Anderson and his men are greeted as heroes when they disembark in New York. Capt. Abner Doubleday notes later that "all the passing steamers saluted us with their steam-whistles and bells, and cheer after cheer went up from the ferry boats and vessels in the harbor." Anderson's valor during the attack and commitment to duty are praised by the Union. Beauregard is also hailed for this first Confederate victory. He is later ordered to direct the troops at Bull Run.

Fort Sumter: Featured Resources

Related Battles

Charleston Harbor, SC | April 12, 1861

Result: Confederate Victory

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Early in the morning of April 12, 1861, Confederate guns around Charleston Harbor opened fire on Fort Sumter. The American Civil War was officially upon both the North and the South. A war that lasted four years and cost the lives of more than 620,000 Americans.

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https://www.battlefields.org/learn/civil-war/battles/shiloh

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Our Battle of Shiloh page includes history articles, battle maps, photos, web links, and the latest preservation news for this important 1862 Civil War battle in Tennessee.

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https://www.battlefields.org/learn/civil-war/battles/vicksburg

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Vicksburg's strategic location on the Mississippi River made it a critical win for both the Union and the Confederacy. The Confederate surrender there ensured Union control of the Mississippi River and cleaved the South in two.

How it ended

Union victory. After a 47-day siege, Lt. Gen. John C. Pemberton's Confederate troops surrendered to Gen. Ulysses S. Grant. Together with the Union victory at Gettysburg just a day before, Vicksburg marked a turning point in the fortunes of the Union army.

In context

The Mississippi River was the primary conduit for supplies and communication through the south as well as a vital lifeline for goods going north. To Confederate President Jefferson Davis, Vicksburg was the "nailhead that holds the South's two halves together." President Abraham Lincoln remarked, "Vicksburg is the key! The war can never be brought to a close until that key is in our pocket." The Vicksburg Campaign began in 1862 and ended with the Confederate surrender on July 4, 1863. With the loss of Confederate general John C. Pemberton's army after the siege at Vicksburg and a Union victory at Port Hudson five days later, the Union controlled the entire Mississippi River and the Confederacy was split in half. Grant's victory led to his continued command in eastern Tennessee and his eventual appointment as general-in-chief of the Union armies.

Before the Battle

In the spring of 1863, Grant marches the Army of the Tennessee down the west side of the Mississippi River. The troops must rendezvous with the Union navy, which will provide transport for the river crossing into Confederate territory. On the evening of April 16, Rear Adm. David Dixon Porter sneaks his Union fleet past the Confederate batteries at Vicksburg to meet up with Grant. As the boats round De Soto Point, they are spotted by Confederate lookouts who spread the alarm. Although each vessel is hit by Confederate fire. Porter's fleet successfully fights its way past the Confederate batteries and meets up with Grant.

On April 29, Union troops attempt to cross the Mississippi at Grand Gulf. The Union fleet bombards Confederate defenses for five hours, but Grant's troops are repulsed. Grant moves farther south in search of a more favorable crossing point and eventually finds one in Bruinsburg. In the early morning hours of April 30, infantrymen of the Twenty-fourth and Forty-sixth Indiana Regiments step ashore on Mississippi soil. The two sides clash at Port Gibson and Raymond. By May 14, the state capital of Jackson, Mississippi, is in Union hands. On May 16, Grant encounters Pemberton's army and they exchange fire at Champion Hill. They clash again on May 17 at the Big Black River. Both battles result in Union victories and force the Confederates to retreat to their fortifications at Vicksburg with the Federals in hot pursuit.

During the Battle

May 18. Looking for a quick victory and not wanting to give Pemberton time to settle his garrison, Grant orders an immediate assault. Of his three corps, only Maj. Gen William T. Sherman's Fifteenth Corps, stationed northeast of the city, is in a position to attack.

May 19. Sherman's assault focuses on the Stockade Redan, named for a log stockade wall across the Graveyard Road connecting two gun positions. Here, the Twenty-seventh Louisiana Infantry, reinforced by Col. Francis Cockrell's Missouri Brigade, mans the rifle pits. Sherman's men move forward down the road at 2 p.m. and are immediately slowed by the ravines and obstructions in front of the redan. The combat is fierce and bloody outside the Confederate works. The Thirteenth United States Infantry plants its colors on the redan but can advance no further. Sherman's men pull back. Undaunted by this failure, Grant makes a more thorough reconnaissance of the defenses prior to ordering another assault.

May 22. Early in the morning, Union artillery opens fire and for four hours bombards the city's defenses. At 10 a.m. the guns fall silent and Union infantry advances on a three-mile front. Sherman attacks again down the Graveyard Road, Maj. Gen. James B. McPherson's Corps move against the center along the Jackson Road, and Maj. Gen. John A. McClernand's Corps attack to the south at the Second Texas Lunette and the Railroad Redoubt, where the Southern Railroad crosses the Confederate lines. Surrounded by a ditch 10 feet deep and walls 20 feet high, the redoubt offers enfilading fire for rifles and artillery. After intense hand-to-hand fighting, Federals breach the Railroad Redoubt, capturing a handful of prisoners. The victory, however, is the only Confederate position captured that day.

Grant's unsuccessful attacks give him no choice but to invest Vicksburg in a siege. As weeks go by, Pemberton's defenders suffer from shortened rations, exposure to the elements, and constant bombardment from Grant's army and navy gunboats. Reduced in number by sickness and casualties, the garrison of Vicksburg is spread dangerously thin. Civilians are hard hit, with many forced to live in crudely dug caves due to the heavy shelling.

June 25. Following Grant's orders to dig tunnels and set explosives under the Confederate works, Union sappers detonate a mine with 2,200 pounds of black powder, causing a huge explosion. After more than 20 hours of hand-to-hand fighting in the 12-foot deep crater left by the blast, Union regiments are unable to advance and withdraw back to their lines. The siege continues.

July 3-4. With the situation dire for the Confederates, Grant and Pemberton meet between their lines. Grant insists on an unconditional surrender, but Pemberton refuses. Later that night Grant reconsiders and offers to parole the Confederate defenders. On July 4, the 47-day siege of Vicksburg is over.

Aftermath

At 10:00 a.m. on Independence Day, some 29,000 Confederates march out of their lines, stack their rifles, and furl their flags. With Vicksburg in Union hands and the Mississippi in their control, Lincoln has great cause for optimism. On July 7, 1863, three days after the fall of Vicksburg and four after a victory at Gettysburg, the president writes to his General-in-Chief: "Major Genl Halleck: We have certain information that Vicksburg surrendered to General Grant on the 4th of July. Now, if Gen. Meade can complete his work so gloriously prosecuted thus far, by the litteral(sic) or substantial destruction of Lee's army, the rebellion will be over. Yours truly, A. LINCOLN"

Unfortunately, Lee's army escapes Meade's clutches on July 14 and crosses the Potomac River at Williamsport, Maryland, into Virginia. At a low point, a dispirited Lincoln sits down and writes to Meade "... my dear general, I do not believe you appreciate the magnitude of the misfortune involved in Lee's escape. He was within your easy grasp, and to have closed upon him would, in connection with our other late successes, have ended the war...." Lincoln never sends this angry message to his general, and the Civil War drags on.

Vicksburg: Featured Resources

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Warren County, MS | May 18, 1863

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Our Battle of Vicksburg page includes history articles, battle maps, photos, helpful web links, recommended books, and more on this important 1863 Civil War battle in Mississippi. Learn more about Grant's victorius Vicksburg campaign.