July 1863: Disaster for the South

• Lee’s defeat at Gettysburg was a huge blow, with Lee losing 1/3 of his army

• On the same day (July 3rd) Ulysses S. Grant captured Vicksburg, MS

• Though Meade had decisively defeated Lee at Gettysburg, Lincoln was still unsatisfied with him.

• Why? What had Meade done at Gettysburg that might disappoint Lincoln?

• On the other hand, Lincoln was very impressed with Grant’s victory at Vicksburg, though he was worried about his drunkenness & amount of casualties

• Lincoln promoted Grant to lead the northern army in the east in November ‘63 to fight Lee

Lee vs. Grant

• In 1864, Grant takes command of the Army of the Potomac (the Union army in the east)

• Grant makes 2 major changes: he will attempt to destroy Lee’s army instead of capturing Richmond; & he will launch a coordinated assault on the entire South

• Grant’s coordinated assault will involve Union assaults in Va, Ga, Wva, & Al

• Grant has 118,700 men

• By 1864, Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia had 64,000 men

• Though Grant had overwhelming numbers, Lee still had the advantages of interior lines & defensive strategy

• Grant moves into Virginia & tries to lure Lee into a fight in May; Lee responds by attacking Grant on May 5-7 in the Battle of the Wilderness

May – June 1864

• Battle of the Wilderness: Lee 11,125, Grant 17,666; CSA victory, Union continues offensive

• Battle of Spotsylvania Courthouse: Lee 13,421, Grant 18,399; CSA victory, Union continues offensive

• Battle of Cold Harbor: Lee 4,595, Grant 12,737; BIG CSA victory, Union continues off.

• Grant loses 41%, Lee loses 46%

• Northern morale plummets during Grant’s initial campaign, & Lincoln worries about reelection; Sherman’s capture of Atlanta in September saved Lincoln

• Grant’s first campaign was a failure, he did not destroy Lee’s army

• Grant changes strategies, choosing to besiege Petersburg, a main supply station for Richmond

• Lee wants to fight & maneuver, but knows he has to defend Petersburg

Siege of Petersburg

• The siege lasts from June ‘64 to April ’65• Confederate forces devise a system of trenches

around Petersburg, similar to what would be seen in WWI

• Grant makes large assaults & artillery barrages, but mostly wants to starve Lee into submission

• Grant’s strategy is brutal & time-consuming, but works: Lee abandons P’burg in April ‘65 & Richmond falls the same month

• Union: 42,000; Confederate: 28,000

Interesting Sidenotes from P’burg

• To distract Grant, Lee orders a cavalry force to attack Washington DC

• This force, led by Jubal Early, reaches DC, panics the townspeople, & engages surrounding forts; A. Lincoln watches the battles personally

• Battler of the Crater: July, 30 1864, Union engineers dig a tunnel under the rebel trenches & blow a 170x120x30 hole in the rebel line

The Conclusion

• After Lee retreated from Petersburg on April 3, 1865; Richmond surrendered the same day

• Lee was trapped & surrounded by Grant on April 9, and surrendered at Appomattox Court House

• Lee did not necessarily have to surrender. He could’ve chosen to disperse his army & continue a guerilla campaign against the North

Lee’s surrender to Grant

The fate of Jefferson Davis

• Davis fled Richmond just before its capture; he hoped to escape to Cuba or possibly Europe

• Davis & his wife, Varina, were capture in Irwinville, GA on May 10, 1865 and imprisoned

Why the South Lost: Men & Material

• Main argument: the South was simply overwhelmed in terms of manpower & supplies

• The South was almost ALWAYS outnumbered 2:1• The industrial advantages of the North meant

they could produce much more cannon, guns, shoes, etc.

• In a long war, which is what the Civil War became, these advantages were simply insurmountable for the South

Why the South Lost: Leadership

• Main argument: the quality of leadership favored the North

• Though initially seen as an adv. for the CSA, more “modern” leaders like Lincoln, Grant, & Sherman emerged throughout the war

• CSA President Davis proved to be incompetent & micromanaged too many affairs. He also had too many enemies within his own gov.

• The inexperienced Lincoln was a strong war-time leader, & used his “team of rivals” in his cabinet wisely

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• The South had two great leaders: Lee & Stonewall Jackson (who died in May ‘63)

• Even so, Lee made questionable decisions to invade the North

• Grant & Sherman proved to be more adept at fighting a modern war. By 1864, both were fighting the war the “right” way: destroying the Southern economy & morale (total war)

Why the South Lost: States’ Rights

• Main argument: the whole ideology of the Confederacy made it inherently weak

• The CSA was founded on the idea of state sovereignty being greater than national sovereignty

• This made the national Confederate government (exec, leg, & judicial branches) weak & ineffective in war-time

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• Ex: The govs of GA & TX refused to send certain troops east where they were needed, bc the two states needed those troops for home-defense

• Ex: The Confederate draft (the first in American history!) was enacted in April ‘62; the Union would not draft men until a year later

Why the South Lost: Southern Internal Division

• Main argument: North was more united than the South

• What were Southerners fighting for? Slavery? Less than 1/3 of Southerners owned slaves. States’ rights? Those rights look less meaningful when you look down the barrel of a gun. To defend their homes from invasion? Irrelevant for many Southerners.

• The North was more united internally. You were fighting to preserve Union, end slavery, or both.

Why the South Lost: Focus on the East

• Main argument: The South went for a “all-or-nothing” campaign in the Eastern Theatre

• The Union’s main strategy in 1861 was two-fold: capture Richmond, capture the Miss. River

• The CSA aggressively defended & poured resources into ONLY one area, the East (Virginia)

• If the South had shifted troops around more often to protect the Western Theatre, they might’ve done better in the war