Chapter Objectives

Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information.

• Identify the battles that turned the tide of the war in 1863.

• Cite the events that led to the South’s surrender in 1865.

Section 5: The Way to Victory

Why It MattersThe Civil War–a war in which Americans fought other Americans–transformed the United States. It shattered the economy of the South while contributing to the rapid economic growth of the North and the West. African Americans gained freedom when slavery was abolished, but the war left a legacy of bitterness between North and South that lasted for generations.

The Impact Today

Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information.

Key events during this era still shape our lives today. For example:

• The institution of slavery was abolished.

• The war established the power of the federal government over the states.

Guide to Reading

Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information.

After four years of war that claimed the lives of more than 600,000 Americans, the Northern forces defeated the Southern forces.

• entrenched

Main Idea

Key Terms

• total war

Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information.

Southern Victories • Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia

seemed too strong to beat in 1862 and 1863.

• They easily won the Battle of Fredericksburg on December 13, 1862, in Virginia against General Ambrose Burnside.

• Because of his failure, Burnside resigned. General Joseph Hooker replaced him.

(pages 485–486)(pages 485–486)

Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information.

Southern Victories (cont.) • Hooker rebuilt the army, but Lee attacked his

troops first and won another victory at Chancellorsville, Virginia, near Fredericksburg in May 1863.

• General Stonewall Jackson was among the heavy casualties.

• Jackson died at Chancellorsville from an accidental shot by one of the Confederate companies. He died a week later.

(pages 485–486)(pages 485–486)

Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information.

• Lee decided to invade the North, hoping to win aid for the Confederacy from Britain and France.

(pages 486–488)(pages 486–488)

The Tide of War Turns

• The South was not victorious as he moved his 75,000 troops north in June.

• Union General George Meade replaced General Hooker to find and fight Lee’s troops and protect Washington, D.C., and Baltimore from attack.

Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information.

The Tide of War Turns (cont.) • The armies fought the three-day Battle

of Gettysburg in July 1863.

• On the third day, 14,000 Confederate forces, led by General Pickett, advanced toward Union lines.

• The Union fired as the Confederate troops marched across open territory.

• Lee’s troops retreated to Virginia in defeat.

(pages 486–488)(pages 486–488)

Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information.

• Another Northern victory occurred at the Battle of Vicksburg, Mississippi.

(pages 486–488)(pages 486–488)

The Tide of War Turns (cont.)

• The Union gained control of the Mississippi River, a war goal, and isolated the western Confederacy.

• This and the Battle of Gettysburg were turning points in the war.

Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information.

(pages 486–488)(pages 486–488)

• On November 19, 1863, Lincoln gave his famous Gettysburg Address at a ceremony dedicating a cemetery at Gettysburg.

The Tide of War Turns (cont.)

• The speech helped Americans look ahead and focus on building America.

Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information.

Final Phases of the War • New Union leadership brought new plans to

attack the Confederacy.

(pages 488–490)(pages 488–490)

• After the Northern victory at Chattanooga, Tennessee, led by Generals Grant and Sherman, Lincoln named Grant commander of all the Union armies.

• The plan was to have the Army of the Potomac crush Lee’s army in Virginia.

• The western army under Sherman would advance to Atlanta and crush the Confederates in the Deep South.

Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information.

Final Phases of the War (cont.) • Grant’s and Lee’s armies met in three battles

near Richmond: the Battles of the Wilderness, Spotsylvania Courthouse, and Cold Harbor.

• The Confederacy held firm each time Grant resumed the attack.

• Another attack at Petersburg turned into a nine-month siege.

• Grant hoped that Richmond would fall, thereby cutting it off from the rest of the Confederacy.

(pages 488–490)(pages 488–490)

Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information.

Final Phases of the War (cont.) • The North lost thousands of men and grew

tired of the war.

• Democrats wanted to make peace with the South, but Lincoln wanted to restore the Union.

• The end of the war was in sight, and Lincoln won reelection easily.

(pages 488–490)(pages 488–490)

Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information.

Final Phases of the War (cont.) • In September 1864 Sherman captured Atlanta,

and the Confederates were driven out of Shenandoah Valley in Virginia.

• Sherman’s army waged “total war” as it then advanced from Atlanta toward Savannah, Georgia, destroying farms, killing animals, and tearing up railroad lines along the way.

• It captured Savannah and devastated South Carolina as the troops moved to meet Grant in Virginia.

(pages 488–490)(pages 488–490)

Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information.

• Lincoln talked about the end of the war and the hope for peace in his second Inaugural Address in 1865.

• On April 2, 1865, Confederate lines at Petersburg broke and Lee withdrew his troops.

• Richmond fell the same day.

• Rebel troops, civilians, and government officials fled, setting fire to the city of Richmond as they left.

(pages 490–491)(pages 490–491)

Victory for the North

Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information.

Victory for the North (cont.) • On April 9, 1865, Lee and his troops

surrendered to Grant at Appomattox Court House, a small Virginia village.

• Grant asked only for their arms, letting them keep their horses and giving them three days’ supply of food.

(pages 490–491)(pages 490–491)

Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information.

Victory for the North (cont.) • Confederate forces in North Carolina

surrendered to General Sherman several days later.

• Jefferson Davis, the president of the Confederacy, was captured on May 10 in Georgia.

• The war was over.

(pages 490–491)(pages 490–491)

Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information.

• The war had several consequences.

Victory for the North (cont.)

(pages 490–491)(pages 490–491)

- The Civil War was the most devastating in American history. More than 600,000 soldiers died. It caused billions of dollars worth of damage, mostly in the South.

- Bitter feelings between Southerners and Northerners lasted for generations.

- The federal government was strengthened and became more powerful than the states.

- The war freed millions of African Americans.