In the beginning years of war, men and young boys flocked to volunteer for the war.  Parades, fancy uniforms, and optimism diminished with the passing of time.  Soldiers and civilians endured death, destruction, and wrenching change.  The only thing that kept each side from giving in was the dedication to their own cause. 

The South continued to outwit the Union despite the important victories of Shiloh and Antietam for the North.  General Robert E. Lee's strategy made him a force to be reckoned with when compared to the weak Union generals.  Lincoln still had yet to find a general who would be willing to fight and pursue the enemy.  Key battles turned the tide of the war. 

Battle of Fredericksburg

General Joseph Hooker

In December 1862, General Ambrose Burnside met up with Lee near Fredericksburg, Virginia.  The Rebel forces were entrenched on several hills south of the town.  Burnside, having the larger army, repeatedly attacked Lee's forces.  However, Burnside failed to overcome the Confederate troops.  Thousands of Union soldiers fell on the hillside.  Burnside was devastated by his failure to overtake Lee and resigned his command to be replaced by General Joseph Hooker. 

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Battle of Chancellorsville

Wall at Fredericksburg, Virginia

After the Union defeat at Fredericksburg, Hooker rebuilt his army and launched a campaign against Lee in May 1863.  Lee struck first before Hooker could mount a major attack.  Just a few miles from Fredericksburg, at Chancellorsville, Lee divided his troops to assault the Union army.  Lee would come out victorious, but the victory was costly.  The battle's casualty numbers were heavy and would include General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson. 

On May 2, Jackson led an attack on the Yankee troops at dusk.  After the fighting ended, Jackson and his entourage began the return to camp.  Confederate forces mistakenly fired on Jackson's party and wounded him in the left arm.  Stonewall was taken to the Chandler house where doctors amputated his arm.  There, in a nearby family cemetery, lays Jackson's left arm.  Upon hearing the news from Chaplain B. Tucker Lacy, Lee remarked, "He has lost his left arm, but I have lost my right arm."  The great Stonewall Jackson died a week later.  The loss of one of the Confederates' greatest strategic generals was crushing to the South.  When asked about burying Jackson with his amputated arm, Mrs. Jackson refused to disturb a Christian burial of her husband's arm.  In 1903, a staff officer of Jackson's set up a stone in the cemetery.  It is unknown if it marks the exact location of his arm.  Some believe Union troops unearthed Jackson's arm and reburied it elsewhere.  Whether or not that is true, is unknown.  What is known, is that the loss of Jackson was one of the turning points of the war for the North.  Watch Gods and Generals for a more in depth look at the life of General Thomas Stonewall Jackson. 

The spot were General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson fell.

Granite stone marking the location of Stonewall's arm

The Battle of Gettysburg

Lee invaded the North despite the heavy losses.  The Confederate general believed a victory in the North would persuade Britain and France to aid the Confederacy.  So, in June, Lee moved his 75,000 troops northward.  His counterpart, Union General Hooker began advancing to Richmond.  Lincoln ordered Hooker to attack Lee.  Hooker, refusing to follow the Commander-in-Chief's orders, was replaced with General George Meade.  Meade's mission was to protect Washington and Baltimore from a Rebel attack.  By coincidence, the armies met on July 1, 1863 near Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.  The small town had converging roads leading to each side's destination.  The three-day Battle of Gettysburg began when Union cavalry surprised Rebel infantry raiding the town for shoes and supplies.  The North was outnumbered but fought desperately to hold the town.  Forced to
retreat, the Union fell back to Cemetery Ridge. 

Little Round Top at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania Part of the Union's important positioning stronghold on the second day of the battle.

There, on that line of hills just south of Gettysburg, the Union regrouped for the following day's battle.  The second day of battle started with a Rebel assault on the Yankees.  Thanks to strategic counterattacks, the Union position was saved. 

The third and final day of battle was a crushing blow to the Army of Northern Virginia.  Lee planned an attack intended "to create a panic and virtually destroy the army."  The attack, however, did not turn out as planned.  Having went against the advice of General James Longstreet, Lee ordered General George Pickett to lead a charge over an open field in hopes to overtake the Army of the Potomac.   

The charge was a slaughter.  Bombarded by heavy military fire, about 13,000 men made their way forward across the open field.  While some made it across the field, the Union forces were protected along the hillside by stone.  The casualties were heavy.  As the Confederates made their way back to Seminary Ridge, Lee tried to rally his center.  Urging Pickett to reform his division, Pickett responded, "General, I have no division."  One wonders why so many would be willing to make a charge knowing it would be their last.  It is because of the one's who fought for a cause of freedom before them, for their own way of life, and for those generations after them that they charged forth.  Due to the extreme number of losses, Gettysburg is the bloodiest battle of the Civil War.  Watch Gettysburg to better understand what happened that day.

The Battle of Vicksburg

At the same time, a battle was taking place in the western front at Vicksburg, Mississippi.  Vicksburg was located on a high bluff above the Mississippi River.  The North needed control over the river and to achieve this end would mean to seize Vicksburg.  Led by General Ulysses S. Grant, the Union laid siege to the town.  On July 4, 1863, Vicksburg surrendered.  The Union gained control over the entire Mississippi River.  Texas, Louisiana, and Arkansas were sealed off from the Confederacy. 

The Gettysburg Address

A ceremony dedicating a cemetery at Gettysburg was held on November 19, 1863.  Edward Everett spoke for two hours on the dedication of the cemetery.  Following the two hour speech, Lincoln delivered a message called the Gettysburg Address.  The speech, lasting no more than three minutes, angered some of those in attendance.  However, it is Lincoln's address that is remembered today.  His words express the true meaning of the civil war.  "It is for us the living...to be dedicated to the great task remaining before us...that these dead shall not have died in vain - that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom - and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth." 

For a lesson analyzing the Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, scope out the Battle Plan for Lesson 11.