Lesson 29: “Faltering Confederacy, End of the War & Review”

Camp followers

Civilians (mostly women) who followed armies to provide cooking, laundry, nursing, and support services; essential to daily military life.

Gettysburg (July 1–3, 1863)

• Meade (Union) vs. Lee (Confederacy); turning point battle of the war.

• Key event: Pickett’s Charge — disastrous Confederate assault on Cemetery Ridge.

Meade

Union general who commanded at Gettysburg; halted Lee’s invasion but did not pursue aggressively afterward.

Pickett’s Charge

Lee’s failed frontal assault on Union center at Gettysburg; resulted in massive Confederate casualties and loss of momentum.

Vicksburg (May 18–July 4, 1863)

• Grant (Union) vs. Pemberton (Confederacy); major siege leading to Union control of Mississippi River.

• Split the Confederacy and secured Trans-Mississippi control.

• Vicksburg did not celebrate July 4th again until 1945.

Grant

• Union general who captured Vicksburg; later promoted to Lieutenant General.

• Aggressive leader criticized by some as reckless but praised by Lincoln for fighting.

Pemberton

Confederate general who surrendered Vicksburg to Grant, dividing the Confederacy and crippling Southern supply lines.

Cold Harbor (May 31–June 12, 1864)

• Grant vs. Lee; Confederate victory with devastating Union losses.

• Field hospital set up at Burnett’s Tavern.

• Grant labeled a “fumbling butcher”; Northern morale shaken and 1864 election affected.

Burnett’s tavern

Location near Cold Harbor used as a Union field hospital during the heavy casualties of the battle.

“Fumbling butcher”

Criticism of Grant after Cold Harbor due to high Union casualties; though Lincoln defended his aggressive approach.

Sherman

Union general who captured Atlanta and launched the destructive March to the Sea.

March to the Sea (Sept–Dec 1864)

Sherman marched from Atlanta to Savannah, destroying infrastructure, railroads, farms, and supplies to break Confederate morale.

Special Field Order #120

Sherman’s directive permitting troops to “forage liberally on the country” and allowing able-bodied enslaved people to join marches.

Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address (1865)

Called for healing the nation “with malice toward none, with charity for all”; emphasized justice, mercy, and finishing the work of the war.

“With malice toward none”

Lincoln's message of reconciliation and forgiveness toward the South after a brutal civil war.

Appomattox Court House (April 9, 1865)

Grant and Lee met; Lee formally surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia, effectively ending the war.

McLean House

Home where Grant and Lee signed surrender terms at Appomattox Court House