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The Battle of Vicksburg. Ulysses S. Grant, The Mississippi Valley, Shiloh, and the Vicksburg Campaign. The War in the West. Although the Union armies lost battles in the West, they won every major campaign The Confederacy had now been cut in two
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The Battle of Vicksburg Ulysses S. Grant, The Mississippi Valley, Shiloh, and the Vicksburg Campaign
The War in the West • Although the Union armies lost battles in the West, they won every major campaign • The Confederacy had now been cut in two • Kentucky and Missouri were cleared of Confederate Troops
Taking the Mississippi Valley • Both North and South were fighting to control the Mississippi River • Ulysses S. Grant takes control of the Union Forces in the West • Confederates built Fort Henry on the Tennessee River and Fort Donelson on the Cumberland River • Hoped to stop Union troops from using the rivers to travel south
Ulysses S. Grant attacks • Grant attacks the forts with 15,000 soldiers and a squadron of ironclad gunboats. • The two forts surrendered • Surrender Terms • Grant said, • “No terms except unconditional and immediate surrender can be accepted.” • Forts are surrendered to the Union • The Hero – • “Unconditional Surrender” Grant
Shiloh • Grant moves toward Memphis Tennessee • Two-day Bloody Battle of Shiloh • The Confederates begin to attack the Union Forces • The Rebels begin to overrun the Yanks • Union refuses to fall back • Grant – • “Maintain that position at all costs” • Ohio 53rd holds the position
Shiloh • Union – • 13,000 Casualties • Confederates – • 11,000 Casualties • “It would have been possible to walk across the clearing in any direction stepping on dead bodies without a foot touching the ground.” • U.S. Grant
The Battle of Vicksburg Crossing the Swampland
Background • Grant hoped to seize the city quickly • Surrounded by impassable swampland • May 1863 • Grant embarked on one of the most daring campaigns in military history
Background • Grant planned to go around the swamp and march deep into enemy territory • He would capture Jackson, Mississippi • Against rules of military science • Grant cut losse from his base of supplies • Permitted Union forces to only take food they could carry
Vicksburg • Confederates stayed behind forts • Union Forces reached Jackson with almost no opposition • Then fought to the outskirts of Vicksburg • In 17 days • Marched 180 Miles • Won 5 Battles against larger forces
Taking Vicksburg by storm • Grant tried to take the city by storm but failed • Began a siege • Blockade of the city • Cut off all supplies to the city • Confederates would surrender or starve • Shelled the city for six weeks • Starving residents ate horses, mules, and dogs
The Bombardment • “We are utterly cut off from the world, surrounded by a circle of fire…The fiery shower of shells goes on day and night…A shell came tearing through the roof, burst upstairs, tore up that room;…the pieces coming through both floors down into the cellar…”
Outcome • Hungry and battered, the Confederates surrendered on July 4, 1863, the day after the Southern defeat at Gettysburg • The Union split the South in half • Now controlled the Mississippi river • The Collapse of the Confederacy would soon follow
Casualties • Union - 4,550 • Confederate - 31,275 • Total - 35,825 total
