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Battle Of Vicksburg Essay

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“In every battle there comes a time when both sides consider themselves beaten, then he who continues the attack wins.” The famous quote said by military General Ulysses S. Grant, states the significance of the Siege of Vicksburg. With military geniuses, economic distress, and strategy, the battle of Vicksburg was one of the most forceful, and destructible battles in the history of the American Civil War. When the first shot was fired in Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861, the Union and Confederates officially broke apart, causing the first outbreak of the American Civil War. With the Union having around 200,000 troops in 1861, and with having the Confederates half that, they were already at a disadvantage. As the war went on, the Union had …show more content…

Taking the city of Vicksburg was crucial because it was the last hold of the Confederacy on the Mississippi River. Cutting off the Confederacy, was a key focal point because it would cut off the Confederacy's supply and leave them with a less efficient way to trade with foreign places. By doing this, not only would they be cutting them off, but would be taking hold of the Mississippi, which would give the Union control of foreign trades, and would make transferring goods more direct and efficient. This would boost the economy for the United States, and for Vicksburg. Ulysses S. Grant, the Commanding General of the United States, was born on April 22, 1922, and was born in Point Pleasant Ohio. Grant went to school at The United States Military Academy at West Point and graduated in 1843. He then went on to fighting in the Mexican War, and later received an honorable mention for gallantry and an honorable mention for meritorious conduct. After having to move to posts far from his family, Grant was beginning to drink heavily, and ignore his work. Because of this, he was later forced to retire in 1854, because of his fear of being kicked out of the service due to being a drunkard. For the next …show more content…

Doing this, hurt the Union’s economy by taking away their resources and supplies. On May 18th, 1863, Pemberton reached the city of Vicksburg, and only had 18,000 troops, while Grant had over twice that, with more coming. However, even though Pemberton was low in numbers, he had the advantage of knowing the terrain and knowing the land in the District. Having lines of defense 6.5 miles around Vicksburg, he was able to line troops apon hills, and steep ridges along the outskirts of the city. Grant however, knew that if he were to overwhelm the Confederates before the battle started, he would have a better chance of taking them down. He did this by ordering an artillery bombardment to help weaken the defenses before going into battle. This was not enough because of their location by the Mississippi Infantry, so even after more attempts, Grant’s men could only get as far as the ditch below the fortification. After having 942 casualties for the Union, and the Confederates only having 70, this was a big loss of confidence in the Union soldiers. After having a winning streak through the state of Mississippi, failing to take the city was a big disappointment. Although the defeat of the first attempt was damaging, they were ready to strike again on May 22. This time, they would focus on weakening the defenses by naval forces. Doing this

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The Battle of spotsylvania court house happened in May 1864, this was the second major battle in Ulysses S. Grant's American civil war overland campaign, the battle of the wilderness also followed the devastation. Grant's Union army disengaged from the confederate army it was lead by Robert e. Lee he moved in a southeasterly direction to try the confederates into a battle that would have a better outcome. Unfortunately, the spotsylvania court house was beaten by part of the confederate army which led first attack on laurel hill. At a critical point, lee's army started a trenching around the area and people of skirmishes occurred in the middle of May 8th and may 21st, 1864.

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The affects of this specific example on the confederates were devastating with 29,491 officers and men being surrendered to the Union, but more importantly it resulted in the union gaining control of the Mississippi River. As Lincoln said, “Vicksburg is the key. The war can never be brought to a close until the key is in our pocket.” This shows how this use of warfare directly correlated to the result of the war, and therefore how Grants use of siege tactics caused the Union to

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There was also a very rough terrain on the mountain, also making it hard to battle. This battle was not very close, or much less fair. The Union swept the Confederates in this battle because of the advantages their number. The casualties of this battle were fairly small, being 408 with the Union and 1,251 with the Confederates.

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The Battle/Siege of Vicksburg The Battle of Vicksburg was one of the most crucial points in the Civil War. It helped Eradicate the Rebels/Confederacy once and for all. The Civil War was fought for over 4 years and it lasted from 1861-1865. It was one of the most horrific wars the world has ever known and witnessed.

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On July 3rd of 1863, the biggest battle of the American Civil War ended, and became an extremely important event in American history. Before the Battle of Gettysburg, the siege of Vicksburg occurred which shut down the Mississippi River to Southern Transport which was conducted by Ulysses S. Grant. In the North Robert E. Lee’s army was marching into southern Pennsylvania while another Confederate cavalry was entering Pennsylvania from the east, an invasion was clearly taking place in the month of July in the year of 1863. The Union and Confederate army both had around an army of 75,000. The commander of the Union was a new commander appointed by President Lincoln named George Meade, and the leader of the Confederate army was General Robert E. Lee.

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The North wanted to cut the Confederacy in half at the Mississippi River, and only the fortress city of Vicksburg blocked their move. After a bloody battle outside the city, Grant settled in for a siege. On July 3, 1863, the Confederate commander asked for terms of surrender; Grant issued his trademark reply: "unconditional surrender." The surrender of the city, coming at the same time as the decisive battle of Gettysburg, helped turn the tide of the war.

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Even though the Confederate army was outnumbered, they were smart and great at defending Vicksburg. In April 1863, Grant made a smart move when he made a surprise landing at Bruinsburg with the Union troops. Then they moved quickly up and pushed back Joseph E. Johnson and his troops who were near Jackson. When Grant was done there, he set his eyes right back at Vicksburg.

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Since Beauregard had no knowledge of the numbers of Grants Army, he had planned to make a heinous attack against him the next day (Totallyhistory.com). April 7th, 1862, the second day of the battle. Union forces had approximately 45,000 men, including Buell’s Army. The Confederate Army had received about 8,500 casualties, leaving them with only less than 20,000 men who could effectively fight (Totallyhistory.com).

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That’s what eventually led the Confederates to surrender the city to Grant and John Rodgers. “When they won this battle and took the town the favor of the war turned to the North” (creating America textbook). Another example of Grant’s genius military strategies was at the Battle of Fort Donnellson. The Union attacked the fort early in the morning and was quickly force to retreat, but Grant quickly attacked again (nps.gov). Two Confederate generals retreated to Nashville and command over to a guy named Simon Buckner who eventually surrendered (nps.gov).

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After winning approval from Major General Halleck Grant embarked with 30,000 troops into Tennessee. The fort was bombarded by ironclads and wooden ships. Before Grant could storm the fort, two naval officers went out to accept the Confederate surrender. Although 3,000 rebels escaped, the battle was very important because it gave the Union an opening to Tennessee and

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Jack Dent Mrs. Buckley English 1 31 January 2018 Battle of Vicksburg Vicksburg is a city in central Mississippi that has so much history and important events that have occured. It is a beautiful city in Warren County, Mississippi. One of the monumental parts of Vicksburg was the Battle of Vicksburg which took place from May 18th to July 4, 1863. The battle was a monumental part of the Civil War and had a total of 75,000 Union Soldiers and only 34,000. The Battle of Vicksburg was a revolutionary battle for the Union army and has proven to be a huge part of the Civil War

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With the mission set to take place in mid-November, faulty timelines and missing valuable materials, interrupted the original plan to attack the Confederate Army in the vicinity of Fredericksburg. Once the Union Army were able to cross the river into Fredericksburg, General Lee and his entrenched troops were prepared to engage in urban warfare and counterattack all of General Burnside’s offenses. With the replacing of several top Generals from both sides, one could presume that the Union transitions were not as effective. In the aftermath we seen a dismal Union Army, crushed by defeat, all the while the Confederate Army were peaking in confidence and their top General believing the South would rise again. We were able to see why the Unions Artillery attacks were not efficient, when looking at how we operate in modern day.

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While the other part of his army would take on longstreet at marye's heights. the union's army main attack was a success, but the counter attack of Jackson’s lead in the end to have a total of 9,000 either dead missing or wounded. This didn't change anything for their strategy. While that was happening Burnside's taking on the confederate soldiers as they were behind a stone wall, but the confederate soldiers were too strong for the federal soldiers trying to attack but with all their rifle and artillery there was no match to their impenetrable spot. a quote from Edward Porter Alexander’s states that “a chicken could not live on that

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‘’The Battle of Fredericksburg was an early Battle of the Civil War and stands as one of the greatest Confederate victories’’. Led by General Robert E. Lee, the army of Northern Virginia routed the Union Force. The Battle of fredericksburg was fought during the Civil War in 1862. The reason the Battle of Fredericksburg was fought was because of slavery and it was also fought for land. The result of the effort by the Union Army was to regain the initiative in its struggle against Lee’s more smaller but more fierce army.

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Around 5 P.M. Jackson released his troops on the right flank. While screaming the “Rebel Yell,” Jackson and his troops devastated the Union 11th corps and pushed them back for 2 miles, however, the feeling of victory was short lived. Stonewall Jackson fell mortally wounded when his own men opened fire on him while he and his fellow leaders of the corps returned from a recon mission to reorganise his troops and find the Union lines because they thought it was a Union charge. The skirmishes and games of wits of the first two days gave way to a huge slugging match on May 3rd on 3 sides of the Chancellorsville intersection. General Hooker abandoned a key position in a move of naϊveness while the Confederate artillery bombarded the surrounding area from a high-ground position.

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