Civil War Turning Point Essay

The American Civil War had several turning points and pivotal battles that influenced the outcome of the war. Out of these engagements, the Battle of Vicksburg had the most lasting impact on the course of the war. Ulysses Grant implemented a battle plan that was fraught with danger, but his gamble paid off when the Confederate garrison at Vicksburg surrendered on July 4th of 1863. The Battle of Vicksburg was the turning point for the Union in the war. This victory had several effects, including propelling the fame of Grant, effectively dividing the Confederacy in two, boosting Union morale, and laying the groundwork for Sherman’s march to the sea. Vicksburg itself sat on a high bluff overlooking a sharp bend of the Mississippi River; consequently,

However, this would require several ships and several weeks to move all the captured troops to a prisoner of war camp. Rather, he decided to parole the rebels, expecting that many would desert and return home, which in fact was true. After the battle, the Union troops captured a surplus of supplies, including 172 cannons and 60,000 muskets. The muskets the Union troops in the West were using were not as advanced as the captured Confederate muskets and different divisions had different caliber weapons, which made supplying the correct ammunition difficult. Due to this, Grant had his men trade out their weapons for the captured weapons, which were all of uniform caliber. The total casualties were 4,910 for the Union, with 806 killed, 3,940 wounded, and 164 missing or captured and 32,363 for the Confederacy with 805 killed, 1,938 wounded, and 29,620 missing or captured. Consequently, the results of the campaign delighted Grant, who wrote that "the capture of Vicksburg, with its garrison, ordnance and ordnance stores, and the successful battles fought in reaching them, gave spirit to the loyal people of the

The Tri-Weekly State Gazette, written in Austin, Texas, made it very clear that the troops at Vicksburg did not surrender due to a force of arms, but because they simply ran out of provisions. Accordingly, the status quo shifted squarely in favor of the Union. Port Hudson, 240 miles south of Vicksburg, surrendered shortly after news of Vicksburg reached them. The siege started in late May of 1863 and two Union attacks were repelled, causing a causality ratio of 12 to 1 in favor of the rebels. The defenders held onto hope that Johnston would relieve them after saving Vicksburg. However, after learning that Johnston did not rescue Vicksburg and was not coming to their aid, Port Hudson surrendered on July 9th. With this, the Confederacy was split in two, with Louisiana, Texas, and Arkansas separated from the rest. This was extra troubling for the rebels because these states supplied a large amount of food that was desperately needed in the east. With the Mississippi firmly in Union control, they could stage further pushes into rebel territory, eventually splitting the Confederacy