The Journey to the End

The Battle of Gettysburg is considered a turning point in the Civil War for many reasons. The Union needed the victory on the East Theater and the win helped them push and help motivate for a victory. The Confederates needed the win even more at Gettysburg but it did not go their way. If the Confederates won the Battle of Gettysburg that would have allowed them to restock their depleting supplies. This lost battle affected them greatly since they couldn't obtain need supplies.  Confederate General Lee knew that a win at Gettysburg was much needed but the loss was a major hit to the Confederacy, the causalities of the Confederacy was significantly higher percentage of their army killed compared to the Union. After the loss the Confederacy lost one of their important Generals, General Lee. Lee wrote to the President of the Confederacy Jefferson Davis, he says, "I therefore, in all sincerity, request Your Excellency to take measures to supply my place" and "I cannot even accomplish what I myself desire. How can I fulfill the expectations of others?" General Lee states how he cannot continue to be a General because of the lack of morale between the soldiers and him. In the Union to celebrate the win of such a important Battle there is a ceremony at where the fallen soldiers from the battle were buried. Lincoln delivers his Gettysburg Address at this ceremony. He gives the Union new goals to avenge the fallen and more reason for winning the war overall increasing the morale of the Union.

After Lincoln's delivery of the Gettysburg Address the Union's morale is as high as its been. To weaken the Confederacy even more Generals Grant, Sheridan, and Sherman conduct a total war campaign in the Confederacy's territory. To accomplish their total war strategy the Union had to deplete and destroy all things that the Confederacy would need to come back in the war and fight strongly. This act was not accepted nor is it justified. A siege is a tactic in which an enemy is surrounded and starved in order to make it surrender. The siege was put in place at Vicksburg because it was the only thing preventing the Union from having complete control of the Mississippi River. Vicksburg's geography made it very hard for the Union to gain control of since it is positioned on top of a bluff. The Confederacy could easily fire at the Union with the Union having a much more difficult time returning the attack. To counter this, the Union shelled Vicksburg for a time period of around two months.  “for more than a month, the citizens of Vicksburg endured a nearly constant pounding from some 300 gun.”  Some dug caves in the hillside to prevent being killed by shells falling on their homes. On top of all that they were reduced to only eating horses, dogs, mules, rats as a result of the siege of Vicksburg put in place by the Union. The conditions in Vicksburg became so terrible that the Confederacy had to surrender to save the people of Vicksburg. The citizens were not only targeted in Vicksburg but also in Sherman's March of Sea where he had the Union burn down civilian houses and destroyed railroads, farms, and factories. Sherman said, "War is cruelty... the crueler it is, the sooner it will be over". Sherman was not justified to got to such measures to make citizens lose everything and live in such poverty. The continued suffering of the South was crippling and the war was starting to come to an end.

The war is finally over. General Lee surrendered at the Appomattox Court House. The Union had the Confederacy surrounded without supplies or reinforcements, no food, and the Union outnumbered them five to one. In Washington D.C. there was a big party celebrating the end of the war. Lincoln was very relieved that it was over since he was exhausted physically and emotionally. The North was very relived and happy that they won the war. But in the South people were very upset over the loss. A small group of people from the South arranged to assassinate important Union leaders. Their plan mostly failed but John Wilkes Booth managed to murder Lincoln, putting the North into a state of mourning.

This image above is a drawing of the memorial service for president Lincoln. People were mourning and remembering one of America's greatest Presidents. 

Cites: http://www.edline.net/files/_zGHaC_/af6d0e7ca09b73443745a49013852ec4/Gettysburg_DBQ_-_Student_Version.pdf

http://www.edline.net/files/_zGHcz_/e7e0bc920224508f3745a49013852ec4/Total_War_Reading_Passages.pdf

http://www.edline.net/files/_zJGmH_/071c2c342438efbc3745a49013852ec4/Lincolns_Assassination_Document_Analysis.pdf