Union troops attacked Vicksburg in 1863 before laying siege to the city.
Vicksburg, Mississippi, was a heavily defended town high on a bluff on the eastern bank of the Mississippi River. Guns pointed down on a 5-mile (8-km) stretch of the river. Heavily forested swamps protected the overland approaches to the north and south. It would not be an easy assault, but it was crucial. If the Union gained control over the entire Mississippi River, the eastern Confederate states would be cut off from Louisiana, Arkansas, and Texas—and the important supplies they provided.
General Grant was in charge of the Vicksburg campaign. Grant tried a number of tactics before setting on a bold and dangerous plan. He would march his army along the western shore of the Mississippi to a point south of Vicksburg. Under the cover of night, Admiral David Dixon Porter would sail his riverboat fleet down the river to meet Grant’s men and ferry them to the other side.
At the end of April, Grant moved his 50,000 troops across the river. They then marched eastward, took the capital of Mississippi at Jackson, and marched west toward Vicksburg. By May 18 they managed to force the Confederates back to Vicksburg and began a siege of the city. After six weeks of constant bombardment—and near starvation—Vicksburg finally surrendered July 4, 1863.
THE BATTLE OF CHANCELLORSVILLE
The appointment of General Hooker gave the men of the Army of the Potomac a morale boost that they badly needed. The general, nicknamed “Fighting Joe,” had a reputation as a good soldier and leader. To decrease desertion, he started revolving furloughs for the men. He also made sure that his troops received better rations. This improved the soldiers’ health and helped swell the ranks of his command with new enlistees. Hooker now commanded about 130,000 men.
Toward the end of April, he chose to prove his might against the Army of Northern Virginia by striking at Fredericksburg. “My plans are perfect,”7 Hooker bragged, “and when I start to carry them out may God have mercy on General Lee, for I will have none.”
Hooker’s plan may have been “perfect,” but it didn’t fool Lee. Hooker sent three corps downstream on the Rappahannock River to divert Lee’s attention. By April 30 Hooker had his headquarters—and 70,000 men—set up 10 miles (16 km) west of Fredericksburg at a crossroads called Chancellorsville. But Lee figured out what Hooker was doing. Instead of retreating, he moved toward Hooker’s forces. The morning of May 1, Hooker marched his troops eastward through dense forests called the Wilderness, coming near the Confederate forces before retreating to Chancellorsville.
The evening of May 2, Confederate troops under General Stonewall Jackson burst through the Wilderness and attacked Hooker’s men. The fighting continued for two days before Hooker led a full retreat, taking his troops north of the Rappahannock. He had lost a staggering 17,000 soldiers.
The defeat sent shock waves through the North. Once again Lincoln had to find a replacement general for the Army of the Potomac. By the end of June he had replaced Hooker with Major General George Gordon Meade. A few days later Meade led his men north into Pennsylvania. Lee meant to press his advantage after Chancellorsville by invading the North. Meade would have to stop him.
GETTYSBURG
The Union cavalry under General John Buford reached Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, June 30—just slightly ahead of the Confederates. Buford quickly took the high ground at a spot called McPherson’s Ridge, just west of town. The cavalry encountered Confederate soldiers under Brigadier General James Pettigrew, but the Confederates quickly retreated. The night of June 30, Buford’s scouts reported several Confederate encampments nearby. Buford knew that a battle was soon coming.
That battle began with a shot fired by one of Buford’s troops about 7:30 the morning of July 1. Between 8 and 9 a.m., the fighting began in earnest. Buford’s men managed to hold off a Confederate attack while Union reinforcements rushed to the scene. As thousands of Union and Confederate soldiers joined the fight, the Confederates seemed to gain the advantage. The Union forces were slowly being pushed back through Gettysburg.
With the Emancipation Proclamation of January 1, 1863, Lincoln announced that African-American men would be accepted into the U.S. Army. About 180,000 answered the call. One of the best-known regiments of black soldiers was the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment. It gained fame for leading the July 18, 1863, assault on Fort Wagner in South Carolina. The regiment’s story was told in the 1989 movie Glory.
Union General Meade arrived by midnight, along with troops that would ultimately number about 93,000. The men eventually would be deployed in a line 3 miles (4.8 km) long on the high ground outside of town. The Confederates attacked the afternoon of July 2. Throughout several hours of brutal fighting, the Union lines managed to hold, but just barely.
Meade’s army remained dug in along Cemetery Ridge to protect their position atop Cemetery Hill, managing to hold off a Confederate assault. On July 3 the Confederates staged a massive charge, with about 12,000 men advancing on Cemetery Ridge. Union cannons blasted them as they charged, resulting in casualties of more than half the force. At the cost of about 23,000 casualties in its army, the Union had won the battle of Gettysburg—and turned the tide of the war in the East.