With each side's strengths in mind, follow the war through its turning points. There were two main theaters: the East, between Washington and Richmond, where Lee usually won; and the West, along the Mississippi and Tennessee Rivers, where Ulysses S. Grant usually won.
Key idea
Bull Run (July 1861): a Confederate win showed the war would be long. Antietam (September 17, 1862): the bloodiest single day in American history stopped Lee's invasion of Maryland. Gettysburg (July 1 to 3, 1863) and the fall of Vicksburg (July 4, 1863): Lee's second invasion turned back, and the Mississippi in Union hands. Atlanta (September 1864) and Sherman's March to the Sea (November to December 1864). Appomattox (April 9, 1865): Lee surrendered to Grant.
Why it works
Why were these the turning points? Each one changed what the other side could hope for. Antietam gave Lincoln the victory he wanted before announcing emancipation, and it made Britain hold back from recognizing the Confederacy. July 1863 ended Lee's hope of winning a decisive battle in the North and cut the Confederacy in two. The fall of Atlanta came two months before the 1864 election, which gave Northern voters a reason to keep fighting, and Lincoln won reelection.
Worked example: Two victories in one week
Why do historians pair Gettysburg (July 1 to 3, 1863) with Vicksburg (July 4, 1863)?
- At Gettysburg, in Pennsylvania, Lee's invasion of the North failed after three days; his army retreated to Virginia.
- At Vicksburg, Mississippi, Grant's six-week siege ended when the Confederate garrison surrendered, about 30,000 men.
- Days later Port Hudson, the last Confederate post on the river, fell, and the whole Mississippi was in Union hands.
- So in one week the Confederacy lost its chance to win in the North and was split in two in the West.
Answer: Together they ended Lee's offensive hopes and gave the Union the Mississippi.
Common mistake
Students often put Gettysburg first or think it ended the war. Gettysburg (July 1863) came in the middle. The war went on for almost two more years, until Appomattox (April 1865). Check the years: 1861 Bull Run, 1862 Antietam, 1863 Gettysburg, 1864 Atlanta, 1865 Appomattox, one a year.
The cost was enormous. The traditional count is about 620,000 soldiers dead; a 2011 study of census records by the historian J. David Hacker estimated about 750,000. About two of every three died of disease rather than in battle.