The Civil War's Main Battles
Jayla Simpson
Battle of Antietam
General Lee(the commander of the Confederate Army) and General McCllean(the commander of the first Union Army) met in Antietam. General Lee spit his army into four different ways. The first phase of the battle happens in a cornfield that belongs to Farmer Miller. The Confederate troops march through the cornfield and the Union opens fire into the cornfield, the Confederates march toward the wall of smoke from the Union's gunfire. When the Confederate troops come out of the cornfield the Union troops were waiting and shoot at point blank range. John Bell Hood's troops lose(they are Texans) and 80 percent of Hood's troops are killed. The second phase happens at Antietam Creek, Maryland where Union troops massacre thousands of Confederate troops in a place called the "Sunken Road". "Sunken Road" becomes known as "Bloody Lane" after this battle Lee withdraws after this battle. Lincoln fires McCllean after this battle also, in this battle in eight hours 21,000 Americans are killed. The Union is considered have won this battle. This battle led to Emanicipation Proclamation which freed all slaves in the South.
Map of The Battle of Antietam
Miller's Cornfield
The Sunken Road or Bloody Lane
Battle of Gettysburg
In July of 1863 General Lee led his troops into Gettysburg for supplies and was hoping to avoid fighting in an unknown landscape. The Union was outnumbered and the troops retreated to a section high ground called Cemetery Ridge, reinforcements then arrived for both sides. Southern generals tried to drive Union forces from the hills named Big Round Top and Little Round Top, but the Union held their positions on the second day of the battle. General Lee ordered an attack to create a panic and destroy the Union army, the Confederate fired 140 cannons at the Union lines. General George Pickett led thousands of Confederate troops in an attack on the Union's position at Cemetory Ridge. This attach was called Pickett's charge which failed after the Confederates broke the first line of the Union's defense. After this battle the South lost hope of getting Britain's and France's help. They hoped to receive two ironclouds to sweep the Union's shipping from the Atlantic, in October 1863 the British government decided not to release the ships. The Battle of Gettysburg was the deadliest battle of the Civil War, after four days the Confederates suffered 25,000 casualties and the Union suffered 23,000 casualties(the victor of the battle). This battle led to President Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. In two minutes President Lincoln honored the soldiers and their cause and stated his vision for the country. This speech is one of the most enduring and powerful speeches in American history.
Battle of Vicksburg
Vicksburg, Mississippi fell under the control of the Union troops. General Ulysses S. Grant(the new commander of the Union army) surrounded 30,000 Confederate troops in Vicksburg in April. In May, Grant began a siege of the town, preventing food and supplies from reaching the Confederates. Union gunships on the river supported Grant's 77,000 troops by firing thousands of shells in the city and the siege lasted 47 days. Fewer than 20 citizens of Vicksbuurg were killed. More than 9,000 Confederate and 10,000 Union casualties and many soldiers died of disease or starvation. The Confederacy lost Port Husdon in Louisiana(it's last stronghold on the Mississippi River). The Union had spit the south into two(Arkansas, Lousiana, and Texas were cut off). This battle where the tide of the Civil War turned, the Union was putting their over all plan into action by taking control of the Mississippi River(the Anaconda Plan).
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