Union major general Ulysses S. Grant had been given a free hand to pick his own battles in the Civil War (1861-1865). Far from the big battles taking place in the east, Grant commanded 60,000 men in the western Army of the Tennessee. He chose Vicksburg, Mississippi, as his most strategic opportunity.
Grant knew that the outcome at Vicksburg would determine the fate of the Confederacy. Vicksburg was the last important Confederate stronghold on the Mississippi River. If the Union army could take it, the North would then control the country's major north-south waterway. It also would split the Confederate states of Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas from the rest of the Southern states.
In March 1863, Grant began an offensive. He moved his men down the west side of the Mississippi River in Louisiana. The army would then cross the river south of Vicksburg and march north to the weaker southern side of the city. But first Grant wanted to distract the Confederates, so he ordered other troop movements to confuse them.
This story is from the April 2023 edition of Cobblestone American History Magazine for Kids.
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This story is from the April 2023 edition of Cobblestone American History Magazine for Kids.
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Putting the Pieces Together
Americans needed to begin to put the past behind them, come together, and plan for the future in the spring of 1865. But Abraham Lincoln, the man best equipped to lead them and who had hoped to restore the country as smoothly and peacefully as possible, had been assassinated.
LAST SHOTS
The last Confederate forces in the Civil War didn’t surrender in the spring of 1865 or on a battlefield.
AND IN OTHER 1865 NEWS
A group of African Americans stop at the White House’s annual public reception on January 1, where they shake hands with President Abraham Lincoln.
A Plot to Kill President the
For several months, actor John Wilkes Booth’s band of conspirators had plotted to capture President Abraham Lincoln and hold him hostage in exchange for Confederate prisoners.
Let the Thing Be Pressed
In June 1864, Union Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant began a nearly 10-month campaign in Virginia.
HEALING THE NATION
President Abraham Lincoln took the oath of office for the second time on March 4, 1865.
A Helping Hand
The spring season is hard in any agricultural society. Plants and animals are too small to eat.
WAR SHERMAN-STYLE
As far as Union Major General William T. Sherman was concerned, the Civil War had gone on long enough.
PEACE TALKS
The fall of Fort Fisher made clear that the Confederacy’s days were numbered. Southerners were tired and hungry.
FORT FISHER'S FALL
Outnumbered Confederate soldiers inside Fort Fisher were unable to withstand the approach of Union troops by land and the constant Union naval bombardment from the sea.
