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9. THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR

1863: THE NORTH BEGINS TO DOMINATE

CONTENTS

A second attempt at Fredericksburg (January)

Mounting Opposition to the War

Chancellorsville and Fredericksburg (May 1-6)

Gettysburg (July 1-3)

Vicksburg

Quantrill's massacre at Lawrence, Kansas (August 21)

Chickamauga and Chattanooga (September-November)

Lincoln delivers his Gettysburg Address (November 19, 1863)

        The textual material on this webpage is drawn directly from my work America – The Covenant Nation © 2021, Volume One, pages 304-309.

A  Timeline of Major Events during this period

1863 The North begins to dominate
  
Jan     Burnside's second attempt on Fredericksburg again ends in disaster (Jan)

May   The new commanding general Hooker moves Union troops around Fredericksburg ... but loses his nerve when he runs into unexpected Confederate oppositon at Chancellorsville (May); huge losses occur on both sides; but especially hard on the Confederates was the accidental loss of Stonewall Jackson
         Vallandigham and his anti-war Northern Democrats ("Copperheads") attempt to stir widening resistance in the North to "Mr. Lincoln's War"; Vallandigham is arrested (May) ... but is allowed by Lincoln to slip off to Canada; Vallandigham then tries to continue his campaign from there

Jul    The Union scores a huge victory at the Battle of Gettysburg (early Jul); but new commanding general Meade fails to move against Lee's exhausted, retreating Confederate troops ... missing the opportunity to end the war with a full Union victory
         But at exactly the same time (early Jul) Grant finally brings Vicksburg to surrender, completing the Union control of the strategic Mississippi River
         Irish immigrants are infuriated to learn that citizenship (which New York City boss Tweed has offered widely in order to build up his voting base) also means military service ... and thus riot (mid-Jul)

Sep   Battle now focuses on the central border regions of southern Tennessee and northern Georgia ... at Chicamauga

Nov    ... and at nearby Chattanooga – both producing significant Union victories
         Lincoln delivers his famous Gettysburg Address, commemorating the lives of soldiers lost in the huge battle there ... and also clarifying considerably the Union cause and its vital importance to all



A SECOND ATTEMPT AT FREDERICKSBURG
(January)
Fredericksburg (again!)

Burnside knew he had to rescue his badly tarnished reputation by another assault on Fredericksburg.  On January 20th he began moving his army back toward Fredericksburg, only to be greeted by rain, and more rain.  The roads turned to a sea of mud and his army bogged down, exhausted from four days of futile effort to move forward.  The endeavor was another disaster – though only to the army's morale and Burnside's personal reputation.  Three days later Lincoln replaced Burnside with "Fighting Joe" Hooker as commander of the Army of the Potomac.


The second Union attempt at Fredericksburg – January 20th

Union Gen. Ambrose Burnside

Union Gen. Joe Hooker (Hooker replaces Burnside as a result)

MOUNTING OPPOSITION TO THE WAR

From a point very early in the war the enthusiasm of the young men called to do the fighting subsided. By the beginning of the second year of the war both North and South changed from a situation of having too many volunteers to train and equip, to not having enough to make up for the heavy losses suffered in the numerous battles occurring everywhere.

The South, despite all the bravado about the Southern military ethic, was the first to have to resort to conscription.  In April of 1862 the Confederacy passed a draft law calling into service all men (with a number of exempted categories by profession) between the ages of eighteen and thirty-five.  In July the North followed, asking the states to institute the draft when they could not meet their quotas.

German and Irish immigrants contributed greatly to the Union Armies, as did free Blacks and liberated slaves when the Emancipation Proclamation was announced, opening up military service to the Blacks as of the beginning of 1863.  The South, of course, could not or would not increase their number in arms in a like manner.

But by 1863, with the war seeming to drag on endlessly with no end in sight, resistance to military service, and especially the draft, began to rise.  In March, Congress allowed for draftees to pay a fee for exemption – or to find a substitute to take the place of a draftee, a sort of bounty system.  But this merely raised questions of integrity and commitment to the cause at a time when enthusiasm for that cause was dwindling rapidly (in both the North and the South).
The New York City draft riots.

In New York City, Irish who had been signed up for American citizenship (to build up the city's Democratic Party regime of boss William M. Tweed and his corrupt Tammany Hall cohorts) found out that in doing so they had also signed up for the draft.

In mid-July this discovery led to a major riot of working-class Irish against the system in which wealthier Americans could buy their way out of the draft.  They vented their anger particularly against Blacks (but also the homes of Abolitionists, Protestant churches and a number of businesses), turning the event into largely a race riot. Troops had to be called in to help the New York police and state militia finally crush the rebellion and restore peace to the city.  But it left the city shaken badly, especially among the Blacks who moved out of the city to either Brooklyn (not part of the city at that time) or New Jersey.  And the South was quick to point up the event as an example of the true nature of Northern race relations.

The New York City Irish Draft Riots (mid-July)


Soldiers enforcing order during the New York City draft riots (July 13-16, 1863)

George Caleb Bingham – General Order No. 11.
Bingham (as were many) was very upset over General Thomas Ewing's order in August to clear out the population of a number of counties in Western Missouri because of pro-Confederacy sentiments rampant there
Vallandigham and the "Copperheads"

Meanwhile considerable trouble was being stirred up by another group of opponents to the war, largely from among the anti-War Democrats in the North (especially Ohio) – who eventually drew the label "Copperheads."  Under the leadership of Clement Vallandigham, they opposed the draft, opposed "King Lincoln," opposed the Emancipation Proclamation and called for an immediate peace with the Confederates (which would have left the issue of Southern slavery untouched).  Republicans accused the Copperheads of treason, and in May of 1863 Vallandigham was arrested by a military tribunal for encouraging Americans to take up arms against the Union.

Much controversy followed his arrest, so Lincoln decided that rather than try him for treason, Vallandigham was to be banished to the Confederacy.  Vallandigham eventually made his way to Canada, and proceeded from there to be nominated as a Democratic Party candidate for Ohio governor.  He subsequently lost the election, but deepened the division among the people of Ohio over the questions of the war and of slavery.1

However, with the continuing advance of the Union armies against the Confederacy, support for the Copperheads would eventually fade away. But they would be a serious problem for Lincoln until things finally began to improve.

1While still in Canada Vallandigham attempted to set up a Northwest Confederacy of Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, and Illinois as an ally of the Southern Confederacy.  But nothing came of the plans.  He slipped back into the U.S. in order to be able to attend the 1864 Democratic National Convention (Lincoln decided simply to ignore him) hoping to be the party's presidential nominee.  But that honor was to go to the ambitious General McClellan instead.

Clement Vallandigham – leader of the anti-war Copperheads



Vallandigham and some of the Copperhead leaders

Vallandigham is arrested ... and is sent to the Confederacy (May 1863)

CHANCELLORSVILLE AND FREDERICKSBURG
Chancellorsville (May 1–6)

Meanwhile back East in Virginia, Union General Hooker had spent the winter months of early 1863 rebuilding the demoralized Northern Army of the Potomac. In the spring, he set out in the direction of Fredericksburg, but swung to the west of the town to draw Lee's army away from it.   At a crossroads clearing known as Chancellorsville, elements of the two armies met.

But despite having more than twice the number of troops as Lee, at this point Hooker strangely took a defensive position, though he sent part of his men to try to sweep in behind Lee.   Lee then attacked Hooker and for two days both armies fought fiercely, until Hooker disengaged and retreated back across the Rappahannock River, humiliated in his inability to defeat an army less than half the size of his.  Lincoln would soon replace him with yet another general, George Meade.

But the loss was great on both sides.   The Union lost 17,000 soldiers, and the Confederates nearly 13,000 soldiers.   But the Confederates also lost Jackson when a Confederate guard mistakenly shot Jackson while the latter was out late at night studying the land in preparation for the next day's action.  Jackson died on the 10th of May, a huge loss to the South.


For details of the Battle of Chancellorsville

The march to Chancellorsville – late April

Union Gen. Joe Hooker

Confederate Gen. Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson



Jackson at Chancellorsville – May 1st



Jackson shot the night of May 2nd by one of his own men, who mistook him for a Union soldier (he died a week later)

A wounded Union Zouave - Chancellorsville – May, 1863



The Third attempt at Fredericksburg (April 30 – May 6)

The Union's Falmouth Camp at Fredericksburg (May 1863)

Union soldiers prior to another battle at nearby Fredericksburg – May 1863



Confederate defenses at Fredericksburg

Confederate dead behind the stone wall of Marye's Heights, Fredericksburg, Va. (May 1863) killed as the eastern wing of the Battle of Chancellorsville
National Archives

GETTYSBURG (July 1-4)

After Chancellorsville, Lee understood that his best strategy would be once again to take the war into the North and conduct a bold strike against the Northern army, which in turn would likely force Lincoln to have to give in to the rising voices in the North demanding immediate peace with the South.

When Meade got his new orders to take command of the Union Army of the Potomac, Lee already had a number of his troops in southern Pennsylvania, with the Confederate cavalry leader Jeb Stuart raiding the countryside.  It looked as if Lee intended to grab the Pennsylvania capital, Harrisburg, so Meade gathered his forces and headed northwest from Maryland to intercept him.  On June 30th, at the small Lutheran seminary town of Gettysburg, forward elements of the two armies met.

For the next three days the two armies fought each other, the Union armies holding defensively the upper grounds and the Confederate armies attempting to dislodge or even surround the well-entrenched Union position.  This time the immense boldness of Lee did not suffice to carry the day, despite the enormous effort Lee applied to the task of overrunning the Union position.  Even a massive frontal assault across one mile of open field produced merely huge Confederate losses.  Finally, on July 4th, Lee ordered the retreat of his army – back toward Virginia.

Tragically, Meade did nothing to pursue the retreating enemy.  He and his troops were exhausted.  But so were Lee's. Once again, like the generals before him, Meade could not think past the issue of the battle at hand and understand that he had a war, not just a battle, to win.  By letting Lee escape back to Virginia, he had let slip by the opportunity to end the war then and there. Lincoln was pleased with Meade's victory, but was upset that Meade had missed what to Lincoln was an obvious opportunity to crush Lee's army and end the war.

Yet it was still a grand disaster for the South – and Lee recognized immediately that he had gambled the lives of his men foolishly.  He lost 28,000 of his 70,000 troops. But it had been costly for the North as well.  Meade had lost 23,000 of his army of 90,000.  Nonetheless, it was Lee, not Meade, who had been broken by this action.  Lee would never be able or willing again to try an assault on the North. Henceforth, the war would involve the South trying to protect itself from invading Northern armies. Gettysburg (and Vicksburg) then marked the turning point of the War, although at the time this was not widely understood in the North.

For details of the Battle of Gettysburg

Gettysburg:  A major faceoff  between Meade and Lee




Little Round Top ... viewed after the battle from Devil's Den

A leg amputation at Gettysburg -  July 1863

Three Confederate prisoners taken at Gettysburg – July 1863
National Archives

A destroyed light artillery battery at Gettysburg – 1863

Devil's Den - Gettysburg
National Archives


VICKSBURG (January - July 4)
Grant's victory at Vicksburg (also on the 4th of July!)

Meanwhile off in the West, things were finally beginning to improve for the Union Army. Grant had finally succeeded in getting his Army of Tennessee swung south around Vicksburg and inland toward the Mississippi state capital at Jackson.  He was able to bring that vital Confederate city to surrender (May 14), opening the way for him to swing west and attack Vicksburg from its less well-defended eastern approach by land.  Vicksburg was now surrounded on all sides by Union troops, and the slow process of strangling the city now began.  For a month and a half, the citizens of Vicksburg withstood constant bombardment and loss of supplies to feed the town.  Finally, on July 4th, with the citizens of the town nearly starving to death, Vicksburg capitulated.

Thus Grant was able to present Lincoln with the wonderful news of the full control of the Mississippi River, another Independence Day gift (along with Gettysburg) given to the much beleaguered president!  The Union could now move supplies up and down the river unimpeded.  At the same time, the Western Confederacy, most notably Texas and Arkansas, was now cut off and isolated from the rest of the Confederacy.


Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant

Union Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman



Union Admiral David D. Porter





One of the battles at Vicksburg - by Thomas Nast



Photo of the Shirley House at Vicksburg showing the Confederate dugouts defending the town
QUANTRILL'S MASSACRE AT LAWRENCE, KANSAS
 (August 21)

In the attack on the anti-slavery town of Lawrence by Quantrill's Raiders (which included future bandits Frank and Jesse James), more than 180 civilians were killed.




CHICKAMAUGA AND CHATTANOOGA
(September-November)
Southeastern Tennessee

The action now moved to the center of the North-South line of battle, along the Tennessee River in Southeastern Tennessee.  Union General William S. Rosecrans's Army of the Cumberland had been pushing General Braxton Bragg's Confederate troops south through Tennessee, and having reached Chattanooga in August they were ready to now push into Georgia.  In the meantime, Rosecrans had sent Burnside to Knoxville (where there was considerable pro-Union sentiment) to secure that city for the North.  It had all been fairly easy.  But that was about to change.
Chickamauga (September 19–20)

In his push south into Georgia, Rosecrans did not get very far before running into a deep forest along the Chickamauga Creek where (unknown to Rosecrans) Bragg's forces had been reinforced by Confederate General James Longstreet's troops. Although operating blindly in the dense forest, the Confederates found a gap in the Union lines, split the Union forces in two, and then turned hard on one of the two Union groups. It was a Union disaster.  But the other half, under General George Thomas (a Virginian who had stayed loyal to the Union), held off the Confederates long enough to let what was left of the Union Army retreat back to Chattanooga.2

It had been a devastating battle for the Union ... but also for the Confederates. The Confederates suffered 21,000 casualties compared to 16,000 Union casualties. Thus the Confederate "victory" at Chickamauga had come at a huge price that the South could ill-afford.
Chattanooga (November 24-25)

The situation in Chattanooga for the Union army grew desperate, as it was now surrounded by well-positioned Confederate troops who had cut off the Union army's line of supplies (including food). In October, Lincoln had put the entire central and western command under Grant, who in turn replaced Rosecrans with Thomas as the new commander of the Army of the Cumberland.  And Grant pushed strongly forward to make sure that supplies and troops (Hooker's troops from the East and the troops of General William Tecumseh Sherman from the West) would make it past the Confederate blockade.  By late November the Union army was finally resupplied and ready to fight.

The biggest challenge was the huge Lookout Mountain from which the Confederates could still threaten Chattanooga and hamper the movement of goods and troops in and out of the town.  That had to be taken – although it was well defended by Confederate troops atop a 500-foot-high cliff.  In fact, it was so well defended that Bragg decided to send Longstreet and his troops off to retake Knoxville, considerably reducing the size of the Confederate army in position at Chattanooga.

Grant's plan was to send Hooker's troops around one side of the mountain and Sherman's troops around the other side, with Thomas's troops to hit the mountain straight on, mostly as a diversionary action until Hooker's and Sherman's troops could get into position.  But Thomas's troops, once they got going, refused to halt at the foot of the mountain, and began to climb wildly straight up its heights, terrorizing the Confederates, who could hardly believe what they were seeing. In the end, the Confederates scrambled back up the mountain and then over the other side, and did not stop running until they were well out of range.  The Union army had thus broken Bragg's position, and now a humiliated Bragg was forced to retreat south.

In the meantime, Union General Burnside had been able to hold off Longstreet's Confederates at Knoxville, and with Sherman now able to come to Burnside's assistance, Longstreet was forced to break off his efforts to retake Knoxville.

At this point the Union army settled in at Chattanooga for the winter – in preparation for the next spring's offensive against central Georgia, the very heart of the Confederacy.

2Thomas would be called the "Rock of Chickamauga" for his role in saving Rosecrans's army.

Union Gen. William Rosecrans

Union Gen. George Henry Thomas – the "Rock of Chickamauga"



Confederate Gen. Braxton Bragg

Chattanooga, Tennessee

Union troops in Chattanooga, Tennessee – 1863
National Archives

Army transport boats bringing supplies up the Tennessee River to relieve the Union forces
besieged at Chattanooga

LINCOLN DELIVERS HIS GETTYSBURG ADDRESS
November 19

Abraham Lincoln – Nov. 8, 1863

Lincoln delivering his Gettysburg Address at the Gettysburg Soldiers' National Cemetery, November 19th



Go on to the next section:  1864 – The South under Siege

  Miles H. Hodges