The Turning Point of the American Civil War: Battle of Gettysburg or Siege of Vicksburg?

The Turning Point of the American Civil put forward of war contest of Gettysburg or besieging of Vicksburg? The American Civil War, also cognise as the War Between the States, was a brutal onslaught between the due north (the North) and the southward (the South) originating in the fractious issue of slavery. The ruthlessness of this war, close toly fought in the South, lasted from 1861 through 1865, w here(predicate) the confederation was ultimately defeated, slavery was abolished, and the passing difficult process of the reconstruction of the United States and its unity began.There were galore(postnominal) battles fought during the American Civil War including the action of Fort Sumter, the Battle of Yorktown, and the Battle of Hanover, however, the most known confrontation is the Battle of Gettysburg. The Battle of Gettysburg took place in Pennsylvania from July 1st through July 3rd of 1863. universal Robert E. leeward (commanding the unite legions) concentrated his full military strength against Major customary George G. Meades Army of the Potomac ( married couple) at the crossroads county seat of Gettysburg.On July 1st, ally and sum forces collided at Gettysburg, with General Lees intention being to engage the Union army and to destroy it. Initially, the Union defended low ridges to the northwest of town. Unfortunately for the two corps of Union infantry and the Union cavalry socio-economic class that was defending the region two large corps of abetter _or_ abettor infantry assaulted them from the north and northwest. This collapsed the hastily positive Union lines of defense and sent the defenders retreating south through the streets of town and to the hills close by.On the second day of battle, July 2nd, most of the Union and quisling armies had been assembled. Fierce fighting raged this day, figuratively and literally staining the ground crimson with blood. despite the onslaught of the Confederacy, the Union managed to make up th eir lines even with the significant losses that they suffered. On July 3rd, the last day of the Battle of Gettysburg, the Union army repulsed the attack with artillery fire, at great losses to the Confederate army. General Lee led his army on a torturous retreat back to Virginia, making the Union the superscript of the battle.But was the Battle of Gettysburg really the turning heyday of the Civil War? All that the Battle of Gettysburg accomplished was prohibiting the Confederacy from further travel into Union territory. This is where the Siege of Vicksburg comes into play. Believed to be 1 of the most remarkable elbow greases of the American Civil War, the Siege of Vicksburg is also arguably the turning point of the Civil War militarily. General Ulysses S. contributes campaign on Vicksburg secured John Pembertons armys throw in on July 4th, 1863 as well as the Mississippi River firmly in Union hands.With that, the Confederacys chance was all besides sealed. Also known as the Battle of Vicksburg, this confrontation was a shutting of a long land and naval campaign by Union forces to capture this strategic position. Abraham capital of Nebraska (the president at the time) recognized the significance of Vicksburg. He said, Vicksburg is the key, the war can never be brought to a close until that key is in our pocket. There were many attempts at securing Vicksburg, the first being in the summer of 1862.It included a prolonged bombardment by Union naval vessels, but alas after the ships withdrew the attempt failed. General Grant was moving his troops on land towards the town from the rear. However, his put forward ended when General Nathan Bedford Forrest of the Confederacy unmake Grants rail supply line, and General Earl new wave Dorn of the Confederacy captured the Union supply base at Holly Springs. General Grant tried again that December, but again was met with failure. Another Union General, General William T. Sherman, led an assault against the hig h ground of the Chickasaw Bluffs north of Vicksburg.To the Unions dismay this resulted in nearly 1,800 casualties of their own with only just over 200 casualties to the Confederate defenders. Because of this, Grants men attempted to find ways through the shallow and narrow bayous to get about what is called the Confederate Gibraltar of the West. After months of trying to find a bypass, Grant finally decided that his army would have to operate south of Vicksburg, which would require the cooperation of the navy. To mask his armys movement down the lah side of the Mississippi river, Grant had Sherman administer two deceptive maneuvers north of Vicksburg.On April 16th, 1863, Rear Admiral David Dixon ostiary traveled down the Mississippi River, running a gauntlet of guns firing from the Vicksburg cliff, and met with Grants army. In the largest amphibious operation ever conducted by an American force before World War II, fashioner and Grant transferred 24,000 men and 60 guns from the west bank to the east bank of the Mississippi. Unopposed at Bruinsburg, Mississippi they landed and began marching toward howling(a) Gulf and Port Gibson which were towns that were to the north along the river.On May 1st, quadruplet parts of the Union army clashed with a Confederate brigade near Port Gibson. This battle cost to each one side between 700 and 900 men. Even with the losses, the two river towns were captured without any more significant fighting between the Union and the Confederacy. With General Sherman leading the rest of General Grants army, they then crossed the river at Grand Gulf, bringing the force to over 45,000 men. He then turned them all inland toward the Mississippi state capital, Jackson.There were two Confederate forces in the area, one in Jackson of only approximately 5,000 soldiers and another at Vicksburg of approximately 26,500 soldiers who were under the leadership of General John C. Pemberton. One of Grants forward-moving divisions came into co ntact with a Confederate force at Raymond on May 12. Although this was not a study battle, it was this confrontation that sent Pembertons army retreating. After hours of confused conflict, the Confederate army withdrew from the battle and ran to the tax shelter of Vicksburg. After a few more battles, General Grant decided to be siege Vicksburg on May 25th, 1863.He devised a plan that is still studied to this day as a basis for siege warfare. Inside the town of Vicksburg, civilians were huddled in caves to avoid the artillery shells that Grants army were evermore bombarding the town with. Foods as well as other much needed supplies were cut off from the town. Animals like dogs, cats, horses, and sometimes even rats were reportedly becoming part of the diets of civilians and soldiers alike. Conditions for the town of Vicksburg became so unbearable that on July 3rd, 1863, General Pemberton of the Confederacy rode out to discuss the terms of surrender of his army.The next morning on July 4th, 1863 Pembertons men began marching out and stacking their guns in surrender to Grants army. The city of Vicksburg was so defeated by the surrender that they would not celebrate Independence Day thereafter until well into the twentieth century. During the Siege of Vicksburg, Union and Confederate forces alike kept busy in their supporting roles on the lanthanum side of the Mississippi River. Lieutenant General Edmund Kirby metalworker of the Confederacy received a telegraph relieve oneself Pemberton requesting a movement against Grants communication lines along the Mississippi.To the Confederacys dismay, Grant had constituted supply depots at Millikens Bend, Youngs Point, and Lake Providence within Smiths jurisdiction. However, Smith failed to recognize the importance of Pembertons situation. It wasnt until June when Smith finally decided to act on Pembertons request the month earlier. To the growing Confederate activity in the area, Grant decided to respond by dispatchi ng troops from the Vicksburg trenches across the Mississippi River. General John G. Walkers Confederate division on the Louisiana side of the Mississippi was of particular concern.Its presence could possibly aid Pembertons Confederate armys escape from the city of Vicksburg. Therefore, the Union sent a brigade in the neck of the woods of Millikens Bend to stop the threat. Many smaller battles were fought to prevent support to those in Vicksburg one included an artillery battery targeting an iron foundry that was recasting spent Union artillery shells as the men returned to De Soto Point. The targeted foundry was destroyed on June 25th. Additional Confederate activity occurred on June 29th at Goodrichs Landing.The Confederates attacked a plantation and army training center run by former slaves. They destroyed the plantations and captured over a hundred former slaves before disengaging in the face of the Union army. Confederate raids such(prenominal) as these were disruptive and caus ed damage, but they were only minor setbacks. They also showed the Confederates that they could only cause momentary disturbances in the area and ultimately would not halt the Union. Later in the Siege of Vicksburg, Union troops tunneled under the 3rd Louisiana Redan and packed the mine with 2,200 pounds of gunpowder, then proceeded to detonate it.The explosion destroyed the Confederate lines on June 25th, while an infantry attack followed the blast. The 45th Illinois Regiment (known as the Lead Mine Regiment) supercharged into the 40 foot diameter 12 foot deep crater with ease, but unfortunately they were stop by the recovering Confederate infantry. The Union soldiers became pinned down while the defenders also rolled the artillery shells with abruptly fuses into the pit with very deadly results. Union engineers worked to set up a casemate in the crater in order to extricate the infantry, and soon the soldiers fell back to a new defensive line.From the crater left field by the ex plosion on June 25th, Union miners worked to dig a new mine to the south and on July 1st this mine was detonated but no infantry attack followed the explosion. This attack was much more undefeated Due to the brilliance of General Grants leadership the fortress city had fallen, and with the surrender of Port Hudson on July 9th, the Mississippi River was firmly in Union hands, leaving the Confederacy effectively split into two. During the Siege of Vicksburg, the Unions casualties mounted up to just under 5,000 men while the Confederacy befogged over 32,000 men.The full forty-seven day siege claimed many lives, but in doing so many were also saved. With the Mississippi in Union hands, communication between the Confederate army was lost, which ultimately secured the fate of the war being in the Unions favor. The Battle of Gettysburg, although a very important employment between the Union and the Confederacy, was not the turning point of the American Civil War militarily. After cut t hrough the Mississippi River on April 30th, 1863, General Ulysses S. Grants Union army waged a fighting campaign and maneuvered to isolate the city of Vicksburg and the Confederate army defending it.The constant defeats Grant and his army inflicted gave the Confederate commander General John C. Pemberton no choice but to retreat to the defenses of the city of Vicksburg and hold out until much needed reinforcements could arrive. On May 19th and May 22nd, General Grant launched a series of frontal assaults against Pembertons forces, suffering heavy casualties. Finding it irresponsible to continue these frontal assaults, Grant decided to lay siege to the city of Vicksburg, ordering his men to dig a series of trenches to the Confederate standings.For 47 days, the Union bombarded Vicksburg while the Confederate soldiers and civilians alike suffered the hardships of siege warfare On July 4th, General Pemberton surrendered his army to General Grant and the Union, ending the siege and grant ed control of the vital Mississippi River in the Norths hands, effectively cutting the Confederacy in half. Grants success here secured the Souths fate and inevitably led to the Union victory. The Battle of Gettysburg was not the turning point of the Civil War considering all that the Union achieved was prohibiting the Confederacy from proceeding north.The Siege of Vicksburg destroyed the Confederacy offensive and ultimately led to the end of the American Civil War with the North as the victors, the abolition of slavery, and the beginning of the reconstruction of the south as well as the United States of America. Bibliography 1. Bearss, Edwin C. field of Honor polar Battles of the Civil War. Washington, D. C National Geographic Society, 2006 2. Hay, Thomas Robson. Confederate leaders at Vicksburg. The Mississippi vale Historical Review. 11. no. 4 (1925) pp. 543-560 3. Hoehling, A. Vicksburg 47 old age of Siege. Stackpole Books, 1996. 400.Print 4. Rhodes, James Ford. The Battle of Ge ttysburg. (1899) pg. 665-677 5. Sabin, Edwin L. Vicksburg, and after creation the view of a Southern Merchant and Non-Combatant during the Sixties. The Sewanee Review. 15. no. 4 (1907) pg. 485-496 6. Woodworth, Steven E. Jefferson Davis and His Generals The Failure of Confederate Command in the West. Lawrence University Press of Kansas, 1990 1 . James Ford Rhodes, The Battle of Gettysburg (1899) pg. 665-677 2 . Rhodes, James Ford. The Battle of Gettysburg. (1899) pg. 665-677 3 .Bearss, Edwin C. handle of Honor polar Battles of the Civil War. Washington, D. C National Geographic Society, 2006 4 . Edwin C. Bearss,Fields of Honor Pivotal Battles of the Civil War, (Washington, D. C National Geographic Society, 2006) 5 . Hoehling, A. Vicksburg 47 Days of Siege. Stackpole Books, 1996. 400. Print. 6 . Bearss, Edwin C. Fields of Honor Pivotal Battles of the Civil War. Washington, D. C National Geographic Society, 2006 7 . Thomas Robson Hay, Confederate Leadership at Vicksburg,T he Mississippi Valley Historical Review, 11, no. 4 (1925) pp. 543-560 8 . Edwin L. Sabin, Vicksburg, and after Being the Experience of a Southern Merchant and Non-Combatant during the Sixties,The Sewanee Review, 15, no. 4 (1907) pg. 485-496 9 . Thomas Robson Hay, Confederate Leadership at Vicksburg,The Mississippi Valley Historical Review, 11, no. 4 (1925) pp. 543-560 10 . Steven E. Woodworth,Jefferson Davis and His Generals The Failure of Confederate Command in the West, (Lawrence University Press of Kansas, 1990) 11 . Hoehling, A. Vicksburg 47 Days of Siege. Stackpole Books, 1996. 400. Print 12 . Hoehling, A. Vicksburg 47 Days of Siege. Stackpole Books, 1996. 400. Print