1863_Year_of_Decision

1863 YEAR OF DECISION General Joseph Hooker (Union Forces) so I did 1863 Year of Decision where in early 1963 General Joseph Hooker was commanding the Army of the Potomac (he takes part of his army across the river above Fredericksburg towards General Lee's Army. At the last minute he puts his army into a defensive position in a camouflaged area surrounded with brush and scrub trees which is also known as the Wilderness. So General Lee divided his army into two to attack from two different sides. This conflict was also known as the Battle of Chancellorsville, during May 1-5th so Stonewall Jackson attacked the right side and General Lee attacked the front and General Hooker barely escaped. Jackson was fatally wounded and he was General Lee's best officer. The Union forces were suffering in the East, but in the West they had some important victories. Ulysses S. Grant made a bold move and he basically attacked Vicksburg from the rear and six weeks later out of starvation the people of Vicksburg surrendered. Another Confederate stronghold Port Hudson, Louisiana also surrendered to a Union force that moved from New Orleans. These important victory split the Confederacy in two with Louisiana, Arkansas, and Texas cut off from the other seceded states. These victories on the Missisippi were one of the turning points of the war. In June of 1863 General Lee proposed invading Pensyllvania to divert Union troops North, and maybe if he won England and France might aid the confederacy. The Union Army of the Potomac now commanded by George C. Meade after June 28th moved north to encounter Lee's army in Gettysburg, Pensyllvania. This was one of the most celebrated battles of the war July 1-3rd . Meade's army had an advantage because they had a well protected position on the hills, south of Gettysburg. Lee attacked first and failed, the next day he ordered 15,000 troops which was known as Pickett's Charge but they were picked off one by one by Union forces, and only about 5000 made it up the ridge. This remaining 5000 had to surrender or retreat. General Lee suffered a huge blow because he lost up to 1/3rd of his Army. On July 4th he withdrew his troops from Gettysburg and this proved vital because never again would Confederate forces threaten Northern Territory. One more important turning point in Tennessee where Union forces occupying Chattanooga on September 9th under the commmand of William Rosecrans followed retreating Conferate forces, and the the two armies engaged in a battle in western Georgia known as the Battle of Chickamauga. Union forces could not break the Confederate army and retreated back to Chattanooga. Bragg the Confederate commander invaded Chattanooga and seized the heigts nd cut off fresh supplies to Union forces. Ulyssess S. Grant came to the rescue and in the Battle of Chattanooga the Union army drove the Confederates back into Georgia. This was a turning point because now Union forces controlled the Tennessee River. Next we move on to the Last Stage which was during 1864-1865 And in the beginning of 1864 Ulyssess. S. Grant became General in Chief of all the Union armies. Grant believed like Lincoln to use the North's advantage in troops and material resources to destroy the South. Grant planned two great offensives 1st he wanted to take the Army of the Potomac and advance them to Richmond, where General Lee would be forced into a decisive battle. 2nd in Georgia the western army under the command of William T. Sherman would go east to Atlanta and destroy the remaining confederate soldiers under the command of Joseph E. Johnstonn. Grant's Northern Campaing began when The Army of the Potomac which had 115,000 troops went eer General Lee's 75000 man army. After avoiding fighting each other for weeks, Lee turned back Grant's army in the Battle of the Wilderness May 5th through 7th. Without stopping or resting Grant kept moving toward Richmond and faced Lee again win a bloody battle of Spotsylvania Court House win which 12000 Union troops dies and an unknown number of Confederate soldiers fell. Grant kept moving but he couldnt win because General Lee would keep his army between Grant and the Confederate capital nd on June 1-3rd he pushed Grant back again. Grant retreated and told himself that if he could seize Petersburg he would cut off the Capital's communications with the rese of the Confederacy. Petersburg was very well protected and once Lee caught up to Grant it became an all out attack on Grant's Union forces. In Georgia Sherman had 90000 troops against the Confederacy's 60000 and the Union forces took Atlanta. Sherman left Atlanta and began his famous “March to the Sea” where he destroyed the Confederacy's army of war materials and railroad communications and even burned towns and plantations to break the will of the Southern people. By December 20th he reached Savannah which surrendered two days later. In April of 1865 Grant's Army of the Potomac still battling in Petersburg finally captured an important railroad junction southwest of Petersburg. Without rail access to the South and troubled with casualties and massive desertions Lee informed the Confederate government that he would no longer be able to defend Richmond. Jefferson Davis and the rest of the white population fled. That night Lincoln was surrounded by black men and women cheering him and calling him a Messiah. Seriously depleted and having only about 25000 men Lee recognized that further bloodshed was useless and he surrendered on April 9th in the Appromatox Court House and nine days later Johnstonn surrendered in Durham, North Carolina and this ended the long war with Jefferson Davis being captured in Georgia.