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178-530: The Gettysburg campaign was a military invasion of Pennsylvania by the main Confederate army under General Robert E. Lee in summer 1863. It was the first time during the war the Confederate Army attempted a full-scale invasion of a free state. The Union won a decisive victory at Gettysburg , July 1–3, with heavy casualties on both sides. Lee managed to escape back to Virginia with most of his army. It

356-657: A Philadelphia newspaper that accurately reported Lee's location. The news was a day old, however, and Stuart, slowed down by a wagon train of booty, did not arrive at Gettysburg until July 2. The Confederates were often aided by uncensored newspaper reports of the movements of Union forces. Hooker tried to censor the newspapers, but reporters and editors evaded his restrictions and the South often had accurate reports of Union strength. Lee's armies threatened Harrisburg, Washington, Baltimore and even Philadelphia. Local militia units hurriedly formed to oppose Lee, but they were inconsequential in

534-478: A battery opened on them, creating havoc and casualties. The Union advance halted and, after dark, the men reembarked on the transports. The next morning, transports disembarked other troops. The swampy terrain and enemy heavy artillery fire forced them to retire. The gunboats opened fire again, about 3 p.m. on May 1, causing some damage. Later, the boats' fire slackened and stopped altogether after dark. Sherman had received orders to land his troops at Milliken's Bend, so

712-440: A brief series of skirmishes with state emergency militia and two companies of cavalry. Early laid the borough under tribute but did not collect any significant quantities of supplies. Soldiers burned several railroad cars and a covered bridge , and they destroyed nearby rails and telegraph lines . The following morning, Early departed for adjacent York County . The brigade of Brig. Gen. John B. Gordon of Early's division reached

890-406: A clear night with no moon, Porter sent seven gunboats and three empty troop transports loaded with stores to run the bluff, taking care to minimize noise and lights. But the preparations were ineffective. Confederate sentries sighted the boats, and the bluff exploded with massive artillery fire. Fires were set along the banks to improve visibility. The Union gunboats answered back. Porter observed that

1068-561: A covering force. By June 10, the IX Corps , under Maj. Gen. John G. Parke , was transferred to Grant's command. This corps became the nucleus of a special task force whose mission was to prevent Johnston, gathering his forces at Canton , from interfering with the siege. Sherman was given command of this task force and Brig. Gen. Frederick Steele replaced him at the XV Corps on June 22. Johnston eventually began moving to relieve Pemberton and reached

1246-527: A daring cavalry raid through central Mississippi by Col. Benjamin Grierson , known as Grierson's Raid . Both were eminently successful. Of Sherman's feint, Grant writes: My object was to compel Pemberton to keep as much force about Vicksburg as I could, until I could secure a good footing on high land east of the river. The move was eminently successful and, as we afterwards learned, created great confusion about Vicksburg and doubts about our real design. Grierson

1424-679: A day by the small but spirited Battle of Fairfax Court House (June 1863) on June 27, and crossed the Potomac River at Rowser's Ford at 3 a.m. on June 28. Upon entering Maryland, the cavalrymen attacked the C & O Canal , one of the major supply lines for the Army of the Potomac, capturing canal boats and cargo. They entered Rockville on June 28, also a key wagon supply road between the Union Army and Washington, tearing down miles of telegraph wire and capturing

1602-410: A decision. His original orders were to capture Grand Gulf and then proceed south to link up with Banks and reduce Port Hudson, after which their combined armies would return and capture Vicksburg. Unfortunately for Grant, such a course would put him under the command of the more senior major general and the credit for any success in the theater would go to Banks. Since Banks was occupied with operations on

1780-518: A different strategy. It wanted Lee to reduce Union pressure threatening their garrison at Vicksburg, Mississippi , but he rejected its suggestions to send troops to provide direct aid, arguing for the value of a concentrated blow in the Northeast. In essence, Lee's strategy was identical to the one he employed in the Maryland campaign of 1862. Furthermore, after Chancellorsville he had supreme confidence in

1958-518: A distraction from his main objective of Vicksburg, but since it had been successful and his ally Sherman had suggested it, he took no punitive action. However, he ordered McClernand back to the Mississippi and assumed personal command of the campaign on January 13 at Milliken's Bend, 15 miles northwest of Vicksburg. That winter, Grant conducted a series of initiatives to approach and capture Vicksburg, termed "Grant's bayou operations". Their general theme

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2136-417: A double envelopment of the enemy. The wing under Brigadier General John Buford would cross the river at Beverly's Ford, two miles (3 km) northeast of Brandy Station. At the same time, David McMurtrie Gregg 's wing would cross at Kelly's Ford, six miles (10 km) downstream to the southeast. However, Pleasonton was unaware of the precise disposition of the enemy and he incorrectly assumed that his force

2314-575: A few being fugitive slaves ), all of whom were forcibly sent southwards and sold into slavery . Many of the abductions were carried out by Albert G. Jenkins ' cavalry brigade. Ewell's corps continued to push deeper into Pennsylvania, with two divisions heading through the Cumberland Valley to threaten Harrisburg , while Jubal Early's division of Ewell's Corps marched eastward over the South Mountain range, occupying Gettysburg on June 26 after

2492-492: A halt. Grant then counterattacked, committing forces that had just arrived from Clinton by way of Bolton. Pemberton's men could not stand up to this assault, so he ordered his men from the field to the one escape route still open: the Raymond Road crossing of Bakers Creek. Brig. Gen. Lloyd Tilghman 's brigade formed the rearguard, and they held at all costs, including the loss of Tilghman. In the late afternoon, Union troops seized

2670-718: A horseshoe-shaped bend in the river, De Soto Peninsula , making it almost impossible to approach by ship. North and east of Vicksburg was the Mississippi Delta (sometimes known as the Yazoo Delta), an area 200 miles (320 km) north to south and up to 50 miles (80 km) across, which has been described by geographer Warren E. Grabau as an "astonishingly complex network of intersecting waterways", some of which were navigable by small steamboats. The regions between modern rivers and bayous formed closed basins called backswamps, of which Grabau judged, "Whether permanently flooded or not,

2848-612: A long distance on the Baltimore road, which Stuart claimed caused a "great panic" in the city of Baltimore. Meanwhile, Union cavalry commander Alfred Pleasonton ordered his divisions to spread out in their movement north with the army, looking for Confederates. Judson Kilpatrick's division was on the right flank of the advance and passed through Hanover on the morning of June 30. The head of Stuart's column encountered Kilpatrick's rear as it passed through town and scattered it. The Battle of Hanover ended after Kilpatrick's men regrouped and drove

3026-423: A long line and much demoralized when they come into Pennsylvania. I shall throw an overwhelming force on their advance, crush it, follow up the success, drive one corps back on another, and by successive repulses and surprises, before they can concentrate, create a panic and virtually destroy the army. [Then] the war will be over and we shall achieve the recognition of our independence. The Confederate government had

3204-514: A major move down the Mississippi to Vicksburg; in Halleck's style, he left considerable initiative to design a campaign, an opportunity that the pugnacious Grant seized. Halleck has received criticism for not moving promptly overland from Memphis, Tennessee , to seize Vicksburg during the summer when he was in command on the scene. He believed that the Navy could capture the fortress on its own, not knowing that

3382-526: A much needed break. Lee's army could also threaten Philadelphia , Baltimore , and Washington , and encourage the growing peace movement in the North. Lee had numerous misunderstandings that shaped his strategy. Lee misread Northern opinion by his reliance on anti-war Copperhead newspapers for northern public opinion. Reading them, he assumed the Yankees must be just as war weary as southerners, and did not appreciate

3560-697: A primary purpose of the campaign was for the Army of Northern Virginia to accumulate food and supplies outside of Virginia, Lee gave strict orders (General Order 72) to his army to minimize any negative impacts on the civilian population. Food, horses, and other supplies were generally not seized outright, although quartermasters reimbursing Northern farmers and merchants using Confederate money were not well received. Various towns, most notably York, Pennsylvania , were required to pay indemnities in lieu of supplies, under threat of destruction. During their invasion of Pennsylvania, Confederate troops abducted up to 1,000 African Americans (most of them free people of color with

3738-456: A result of this envelopment, and the attack by Morgan's troops, the Confederate command surrendered in the afternoon. Although Union losses were high and the victory did not contribute to the capture of Vicksburg, it did eliminate one more impediment to Union shipping on the Mississippi. Grant was not happy to learn that McClernand had conducted the operation without his approval, considering it

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3916-469: A strong defensive position in Ashby's Gap. After successfully defending his screen for almost a week, Stuart found himself motivated to begin the most controversial adventure of his career, Stuart's raid around the eastern flank of the Union Army. Hooker's significant pursuit with the bulk of his army began on June 25, after he learned that the Army of Northern Virginia had crossed the Potomac River. He ordered

4094-548: A two-pronged approach in which half of his army, under Maj. Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman , would advance to the Yazoo River and attempt to reach Vicksburg from the northeast, while Grant took the remainder of the army down the Mississippi Central Railroad . Both of these initiatives failed. Grant conducted a number of "experiments" or expeditions—Grant's bayou operations—that attempted to enable waterborne access to

4272-515: A wagon train of 140 brand new, fully loaded wagons and mule teams. This wagon train would prove to be a logistical hindrance to Stuart's advance, but he interpreted Lee's orders as placing importance on gathering supplies. The proximity of the Confederate raiders provoked some consternation in the national capital and Meade dispatched two cavalry brigades and an artillery battery to pursue the Confederates. Stuart supposedly told one of his prisoners from

4450-602: Is one of the country's leading interpretive sites for the Civil War. The Visitors Center at the Gettysburg Battlefield holds thousands of artifacts, including the most extensive collection of vintage Civil War weapons in Pennsylvania. Other Civil War-related museums are scattered throughout the state, as well as county archives and hundreds of memorials/monuments/historical markers. An impressive state-sponsored monument in

4628-510: Is possible that he had the same intention when he spoke to Robert E. Lee following the Battle of Upperville. He certainly needed to erase the stain on his reputation represented by his surprise and near defeat at the Battle of Brandy Station . The exact nature of Lee's order to Stuart on June 22 has been argued by the participants and historians ever since, but the essence was that he was instructed to guard

4806-534: The Tuscumbia , had been put out of action) and the transports temporarily drew off, but later that afternoon, while the angle of the sun interfered with Confederate aiming, Porter again sent his ships to Grand Gulf. While the ironclads screened them, the steamboats and barges ran the gauntlet. Meanwhile, Grant marched his men overland across Coffee Point to below the Gulf. After the transports had passed Grand Gulf, they embarked

4984-586: The "Corn Exchange Regiment." The 47th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment , one of the regiments which initially served in the Eastern and Lower Seaboard Theaters , went on to become the only regiment from Pennsylvania to both fight in the Union's 1864 Red River Campaign across Louisiana and to have men confined as POWs at Camp Ford , the largest Confederate States Army prison west of the Mississippi River. After

5162-570: The Arkansas River at Arkansas Post , 50 miles up the Arkansas from its confluence with the Mississippi, a base from which Confederate gunboats were attacking Union shipping on the river. The expedition started without notifying Grant. Union boats under Rear Adm. David Dixon Porter began landing troops near Arkansas Post in the evening of January 9. The troops started up river towards Fort Hindman. Sherman's corps overran Confederate trenches, and

5340-523: The Battle of Hanover , Battle of Carlisle , Battle of Hunterstown , and the Battle of Fairfield , all during the Gettysburg Campaign . The city of York, Pennsylvania became the largest Northern city to be occupied by Confederate troops when Jubal A. Early 's division took control of the town in late June 1863 and extracted a ransom. During the 1860 Presidential Election , Pennsylvania voted in favor of Abraham Lincoln (268,030 votes or 56.3% of

5518-477: The Battle of Middleburg occurred on the morning of June 19 when Col. J. Irvin Gregg's brigade advanced west from Aldie and attacked Stuart's line on a ridge west of Middleburg. Stuart repulsed Gregg's charge, counterattacked, then fell back to defensive positions one-half mile (800 m) to the west. On June 21, Pleasonton again attempted to break Stuart's screen by advancing on Upperville , nine miles (14 km) to

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5696-576: The Blue Ridge Mountains . A.P. Hill would then march his corps through the valley as well. On June 12, the leading elements of Lee's army were passing through the Chester Gap . At the same time, Hooker still believed that Lee's army was positioned on the west bank of the Rappahannock, between Fredericksburg and Culpeper and that it outnumbered his own. Hooker had proposed to march on Richmond after

5874-597: The Carlisle Barracks , Stuart concluded the so-called Battle of Carlisle and withdrew after midnight to the south towards Gettysburg. The fighting at Hanover, the long march through York County with the captured wagons, and the brief encounter at Carlisle slowed Stuart considerably in his attempt to rejoin the main army. Pennsylvania in the American Civil War During the American Civil War ,

6052-551: The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania played a critical role in the Union , providing a substantial supply of military personnel, equipment , and leadership to the Federal government. The state raised over 360,000 soldiers for the Federal armies. It served as a significant source of artillery guns, small arms, ammunition, armor for the new revolutionary style of ironclad types of gunboats for

6230-644: The Medal of Honor for their actions during the conflict. Pennsylvania ranked first in the number of black soldiers (8,612) mustered into the Union Army, forming eleven regiments of U.S. Colored Troops . Most of these trained at Camp William Penn , established in 1863 north of Philadelphia, the only camp used to train Colored Troops exclusively. The 47th Pennsylvania Infantry also became an integrated regiment in October 1862 when several formerly enslaved Black men enlisted with

6408-570: The Middle Department , to withdraw the surplus force to Harpers Ferry . Schenck, however, did not comply and, unaware that Lee's infantry were approaching, did not issue any orders for Milroy to withdraw immediately from Winchester before June 13. By then, Milroy's position was in extreme danger from a superior Confederate force. Ewell planned to defeat the Union garrison by sending Allegheny Johnson and Jubal Early 's divisions directly to Winchester while Rodes' division maneuvered east to defeat

6586-590: The Pennsylvania Reserves fought as the only army division all from a single state, and saw action in most of the major campaigns and battles of the Army of the Potomac . The Philadelphia Brigade was also a rarity in that all of its regiments were recruited from a single city. In an unusual circumstance, the Philadelphia Corn Exchange sponsored and paid for a regiment, the 118th, which became known as

6764-540: The Potomac River , Lee's Second Corps advanced through Maryland and Pennsylvania, reaching the Susquehanna River and threatening the state capital of Harrisburg . However, the Army of the Potomac was in pursuit and had reached Frederick, Maryland, before Lee realized his opponent had crossed the Potomac. Lee moved swiftly to concentrate his army around the crossroads town of Gettysburg . The Battle of Gettysburg

6942-565: The U.S. Navy 's ships. The largest producer of wrought iron artillery pieces for the Union army was the Phoenixville Iron Company in Chester County , which, at its peak, churned out fifty 3" Ordnance Rifles each week. Smaller facilities produced steel swords, rifles, pistols, tools, camp implements, tents, and other items used by the Federal armies, making Pennsylvania one of the most important sources of government supplies during

7120-1008: The XV Corps , under Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman ; the XVII Corps , under Maj. Gen. James B. McPherson ; a three-division detachment of the XVI Corps , under Maj. Gen. Cadwallader C. Washburn ; and a detachment from the District of Northeast Louisiana, under Brig. Gen. Elias S. Dennis . The IX Corps , commanded by Maj. Gen. John G. Parke , joined the army in mid-June. Lt. Gen. John C. Pemberton 's Confederate Army of Mississippi , approximately 30,000 men, consisted of five divisions, under Maj. Gens. William W. Loring , Carter L. Stevenson , John H. Forney , Martin L. Smith , and John S. Bowen . General Joseph E. Johnston 's forces in Raymond and Jackson, Mississippi , about 6,000 men, were elements of his Department of

7298-618: The 1863 Gettysburg Campaign , as well as the following year during a Confederate cavalry raid that culminated in the burning of much of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania . Several significant Federal leaders hailed from the Commonwealth. Military leaders from Pennsylvania included Generals George G. Meade (the victorious commander at Gettysburg and from Philadelphia ), Winfield S. Hancock , John F. Reynolds , Admiral David D. Porter , and Quartermaster General Montgomery C. Meigs . Pennsylvanians also rose to prominence as political figures during

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7476-825: The 47th's return to the Eastern Theater in July of that same year, the regiment then participated in a brief encounter at Snicker's Gap before engaging in the intense fighting of Sheridan's 1864 Shenandoah Valley Campaign in Virginia, including during the battles of Berryville , Opequon (Third Winchester), Fisher's Hill , and Cedar Creek . Most of the new Pennsylvania regiments were organized and trained at sprawling Camp Curtin near Harrisburg , as well as thousands of soldiers from other states. Other significant training sites were near Pittsburgh , Easton , Philadelphia and West Chester . Over 100 soldiers from Pennsylvania units would win

7654-533: The Army of the Potomac (about whom the governors had voiced their displeasure) and issued the Emancipation Proclamation . By late 1864, the majority of Pennsylvania voters had rallied around the president and supported his incumbency in the Presidential Election , giving Lincoln 296,292 votes or 51.6% of the ballots cast versus Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan 's 277,443 votes (48.4%). While

7832-562: The Army of the Potomac departed Fredericksburg and reached Manassas Junction on June 16. Hooker dispatched Pleasonton's cavalry again to punch through the Confederate cavalry screen to find the main Confederate army, which led to three minor cavalry battles from June 17 through June 21 in the Loudoun Valley. Pleasonton ordered David McM. Gregg's division from Manassas Junction westward down the Little River Turnpike to Aldie . Aldie

8010-542: The Army of the Potomac to cross into Maryland and concentrate at Middletown (Slocum's XII Corps) and Frederick (the rest of the army, led by Reynolds's advance wing—the I, III, and XI Corps). Lincoln issued a proclamation calling for 100,000 volunteers from four states to serve a term of six months "to repel the threatened and imminent invasion of Pennsylvania." Pennsylvania Governor Andrew Curtin called for 50,000 volunteers to take arms as volunteer militia ; only 8,000 initially responded, and Curtin asked for help from

8188-482: The Bakers Creek Bridge, and by midnight, they occupied Edwards. The Confederates were in full retreat towards Vicksburg. The Confederate retreat reached Big Black River Bridge the night of May 16–17. Pemberton ordered Brig. Gen. Bowen, with three brigades, to man the fortifications on the east bank of the river and impede any Union pursuit. Three divisions of McClernand's corps moved out from Edwards Station on

8366-578: The Big Bayou Pierre and the Big Black River were compromised. Realizing this, Bowen evacuated Grand Gulf and proceeded with all speed to Hankinson's Ford across the Big Black, barely escaping the Union trap. Grant's intention at this time was to move north over this same route and advance directly on Vicksburg. However, scouting parties that he sent out found that Pemberton had good defensive positions to

8544-605: The Big Black River on July 1, but he delayed a potentially difficult encounter with Sherman until it was too late for the Vicksburg garrison, and then fell back to Jackson. During the siege of Vicksburg, three other battles took place in the vicinity: In an effort to cut Grant's supply line during the siege, the Confederates attacked the Milliken's Bend supply area up the Mississippi. This was mainly defended by untrained black troops, who fought with inferior weaponry and finally repelled

8722-717: The Coldwater River, then to the Tallahatchie River , and finally into the Yazoo River at Greenwood, Mississippi . The dikes were blown up on February 3, beginning what was called the Yazoo Pass Expedition . Ten Union boats, under the command of Lt. Cmdr. Watson Smith, with army troops under the command of Brig. Gen. Benjamin Prentiss , began moving through the pass on February 7. But low-hanging trees destroyed anything on

8900-536: The Confederacy, and the Mississippi River was once again open for northern commerce to reach the Gulf of Mexico, and as a supply line for the Union Army. Grant's Vicksburg campaign is studied as a masterpiece of military operations and a major turning point of the war. Vicksburg was strategically vital to the Confederates. Jefferson Davis said, "Vicksburg is the nail head that holds the South's two halves together." While in their hands, it blocked Union navigation down

9078-453: The Confederate army's movements behind the Blue Ridge effectively. He initially conceived the idea of reacting to Lee's absence by seizing unprotected Richmond, Virginia , the Confederate capital. But President Abraham Lincoln sternly reminded him that Lee's army was the true objective. His orders were to pursue and defeat Lee but to stay between Lee and Washington and Baltimore. On June 14,

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9256-469: The Confederates and the landings occurred without opposition. Over the next 17 days, Grant maneuvered his army inland and won five battles, captured the state capital of Jackson, Mississippi , and assaulted and laid siege to Vicksburg. After Pemberton's army surrendered on July 4 (one day after the Confederate defeat at Gettysburg ), and when Port Hudson surrendered to Maj. Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks on July 9, Texas and Arkansas were effectively cut off from

9434-483: The Confederates bedeviling Porter, but Porter's approach was abandoned as too difficult. Grant's final attempt was to dig another canal from Duckport Landing to Walnut Bayou, aimed at getting lighter boats past Vicksburg. By the time the canal was almost finished, on April 6, water levels were declining, and none but the lightest of flatboats could get through. Grant abandoned this canal and started planning anew. From December through March, including Chickasaw Bayou and

9612-406: The Confederates began to withdraw across the Big Black on two bridges: the railroad bridge and the steamboat dock moored athwart the river. As soon as they had crossed, the Confederates set fire to the bridges, preventing close Union pursuit. The fleeing Confederates who arrived in Vicksburg later that day were disorganized. The Union forces captured approximately 1,800 troops at Big Black, a loss that

9790-557: The Confederates could ill afford. The Union army converged on Vicksburg, trapping Pemberton's force. Grant attempted two assaults to break through the strong Confederate fieldworks: May 19 and May 22. The latter assault initially achieved some success in McClernand's sector, but it was repulsed with 3,200 casualties. Johnston ordered Pemberton to evacuate the city and save his army, but Pemberton thought it impossible to withdraw safely. Johnston planned to attack Grant and relieve Pemberton but

9968-509: The Confederates engaged the Union advance and the battle ensued. Federals forced the Confederates to fall back. The Confederates established new defensive positions at different times during the day, but they could not stop the Union onslaught and left the field in the early evening. This defeat demonstrated that the Confederates were unable to defend the Mississippi River line, and the Federals had secured their beachhead. At this point, Grant faced

10146-447: The Confederates mainly hit the high parts of his boats, reasoned that they could not depress their guns, and had them hug the east shore, right under Confederate cannon, so close he could hear their commanders giving orders, shells flying overhead. The fleet survived with little damage; thirteen men were wounded and none killed. The Henry Clay was disabled and burned at the water's edge. On April 22, six more boats loaded with supplies made

10324-431: The Confederates out of town. Stuart's brigades had been better positioned to guard their captured wagon train than to take advantage of the encounter with Kilpatrick. To protect his wagons and prisoners, he delayed until nightfall and then detoured around Hanover by way of Jefferson to the east, increasing his march by five miles (8 km). After a 20-mile (32 km) trek in the dark, his exhausted men reached Dover on

10502-654: The Confederates with help from gunboats, although at significant cost; the defenders lost 652 to the Confederate 185. After Union forces began occupying the Louisiana river parishes, thousands of escaped slaves flocked to them. The Federals, therefore, leased some plantations and put the freedmen to work growing cotton or other crops; the proceeds from the sale of the crops helped defray expenses for food, clothing, etc. African American troops were assigned to protect these plantations, releasing other troops to fight. Confederates, determined to recapture some of these freedmen and destroy

10680-583: The Gettysburg National Military Park honors Pennsylvania's soldiers and leaders. Vicksburg campaign The campaign consisted of many important naval operations, troop maneuvers, failed initiatives, and eleven distinct battles from December 26, 1862, to July 4, 1863. Military historians divide the campaign into two formal phases: operations against Vicksburg (December 1862 – January 1863) and Grant's operations against Vicksburg (March – July 1863). Grant initially planned

10858-479: The Mississippi Central advance, seven initiatives, or "experiments", by Grant had failed. Grant claimed in his memoirs that he had undertaken these experiments primarily to keep his troops busy during the flooded and disease-laden winter months and that he had had no expectation of success. This claim is contradicted by correspondence from Grant at the time. All of the bayou operations were failures, but Grant

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11036-474: The Mississippi south of Vicksburg's artillery batteries. All five of these initiatives failed as well. Finally, Union gunboats and troop transport boats ran the batteries at Vicksburg and met up with Grant's men who had marched overland in Louisiana . On April 29 and April 30, 1863, Grant's army crossed the Mississippi and landed at Bruinsburg, Mississippi . An elaborate series of demonstrations and diversions fooled

11214-452: The Mississippi; together with control of the mouth of the Red River and of Port Hudson to the south, it allowed communication with the states west of the river, upon which the Confederates depended extensively for horses, cattle and reinforcements. The natural defenses of the city were ideal, earning it the nickname "The Gibraltar of the Confederacy". It was located on a high bluff overlooking

11392-633: The Navy for its warships and blockaders came from underground mines in several counties in northern Pennsylvania. The Satterlee Hospital and the Mower Hospital (both near Philadelphia) were significant military hospitals and rehabilitation centers, as was the York U.S. Army General Hospital. On the other side of the state, Pittsburgh's heavy industry provided significant quantities of weapons and ammunition. The Fort Pitt Works near Pittsburgh made mammoth iron castings for giant siege howitzers and mortars , among

11570-741: The New York State Militia. Gov. Joel Parker of New Jersey also responded by sending troops to Pennsylvania. The War Department created two new departments, the Department of the Monongahela , commanded by Major General William T. H. Brooks , and the Department of the Susquehanna , commanded by Major General Darius N. Couch , to coordinate defensive efforts in Pennsylvania. Pittsburgh, Harrisburg, and Philadelphia were considered potential targets and defensive preparations were made. In Harrisburg,

11748-439: The North, and to encourage anti-war elements. Lee's army slipped away from Federal contact at Fredericksburg , Virginia, on June 3, 1863. The largest predominantly cavalry battle of the war was fought at Brandy Station on June 9. The Confederates crossed the Blue Ridge Mountains and moved north through the Shenandoah Valley , capturing the Union garrison at Winchester , in the Second Battle of Winchester , June 13–15. Crossing

11926-509: The North. The Republicans will be destroyed [in the 1864 presidential election] & I think the friends of peace will become so strong as that the next administration will go in on that basis. We have only therefore to resist manfully. Lee was overconfident of the morale and equipment of his "invincible" veterans as a result of their performance at Chancellorsville; he fantasized about a definitive war-winning triumph: [The Yankees will be] broken down with hunger and hard marching, strung out on

12104-468: The Pennsylvania Volunteers, 1861-1865 which remains the standard reference for the Commonwealth's regimental histories and unit rosters. The State Archives in Harrisburg preserves the military records of the state's emergency militia, as well as material on the state's volunteer regiments and batteries. It also houses microfilmed records of the damage claims from individuals in several counties, delineating losses of their personal property and possessions to

12282-420: The Potomac during the Chancellorsville Campaign (April 30 – May 6, 1863), Lee decided upon a second invasion of the North. Such a move would upset Union plans for the summer campaigning season, give Lee the ability to maneuver his army away from its defensive positions behind the Rappahannock River , and allow the Confederates to live off the bounty of the rich northern farms while giving war-ravaged Virginia

12460-435: The Rappahannock with one section attacking west toward Stevensburg and the second force pushing north to Brandy Station. Between Gregg and the St. James action was a prominent ridge called Fleetwood Hill, which had been Stuart's headquarters the previous night. Stuart, surprised a second time by Gregg's forces threatening his rear, sent regiments from St. James to check the Union advance in the south. When Gregg's men charged up

12638-421: The Red River and had informed Grant that he was not ready to begin operations against Port Hudson within the next few days, Grant decided to move on his own against Vicksburg. He sent a message to Halleck about his intentions, knowing that it would take as many as eight days for Washington to receive the message and respond. After the Union army seized the crossing at Grindstone Ford, any Confederate forces between

12816-404: The South. One Pennsylvanian soldier spoke to a Confederate slave woman whose husband was whipped and was appalled by what she had to tell him of slavery. He stated that "I thought I had hated slavery as much as possible before I came here, but here, where I can see some of its workings, I am more than ever convinced of the cruelty and inhumanity of the system." After the Battle of Antietam in

12994-449: The Susquehanna on June 28, where militia guarded the 5,629-foot-long (1,716 m) covered bridge at Wrightsville . Gordon's artillery fire caused the well-fortified militiamen to retreat and burn the bridge. Confederate cavalry under the command of Brig. Gen. Albert G. Jenkins raided nearby Mechanicsburg on June 28 and skirmished with militia at Sporting Hill on the west side of Camp Hill on June 29. The Confederates then pressed on to

13172-408: The Union Army between Grant and McClernand that continued throughout the campaign. The "operations against Vicksburg" phase of the Vicksburg campaign comprises the following battles: Sherman disembarked with three divisions at Johnson's Plantation on the Yazoo River to approach the Vicksburg defenses from the northeast. On December 27, the Federals pushed their lines forward through the swamps toward

13350-483: The Union cavalry as a peer of the Confederate mounted arm. After Brandy Station, a variety of Union sources reported the presence of Confederate infantry at Culpeper and Brandy Station. Hooker did not immediately act on this information. The day after the battle, Ewell's Corps began marching toward the Shenandoah Valley. Lee intended Ewell to clear the valley of Federal forces while Longstreet's Corps marched east of

13528-484: The Union center. The defeat of his massive infantry assault, Pickett's Charge , caused Lee to order a retreat that began the evening of July 4. The Confederate retreat to Virginia was plagued by bad weather, difficult roads, and numerous skirmishes with Union cavalry. However, Meade's army did not maneuver aggressively enough to prevent Lee from crossing the Potomac to safety on the night of July 13–14. Shortly after Lee's Army of Northern Virginia defeated Hooker's Army of

13706-406: The Union detachment at Berryville and wheel north toward Martinsburg . These movements effectively surrounded the Federal garrison by 23,000 Confederate troops. On the 13th, Milroy's telegraph connection with Harpers Ferry and Washington was cut by Ewell's troops. The Berryville detachment escaped Rodes' division and fell back on Winchester while Rodes' men continued north to Martinsburg. Though Ewell

13884-402: The Union soldiers to a force of 30,000 and provided the field commander the flexibility of a 4:1 advantage, potentially more than enough to ensure a successful siege of Port Hudson. Although this was the only one of the bayou expeditions to successfully bypass the Vicksburg defenses, historian Ed Bearss diminishes this exploit as the "Lake Providence Boondoggle". The next attempt was to get to

14062-526: The Union's West Fort and the brigade of Brig. Gen. Harry T. Hays led the charge that captured the fort and a Union battery. As darkness fell, Milroy belatedly decided to retreat from his two remaining forts. Anticipating the movement, Ewell ordered Johnson to march northwest and block the Union escape route. At 3:30 a.m. on June 15, Johnson's column intercepted Milroy's on the Charles Town Road. Although Milroy ordered his men to fight their way out of

14240-440: The Vicksburg campaign comprises the following battles: Admiral Porter led seven ironclads in an attack on the fortifications and batteries at Grand Gulf, Mississippi , with the intention of silencing the Confederate guns and then securing the area with troops of McClernand's XIII Corps who were on the accompanying transports and barges. The attack by the seven ironclads began at 8 a.m. and continued until about 1:30 p.m. During

14418-678: The Walnut Hills, which were strongly defended. On December 28, several futile attempts were made to get around these defenses. On December 29, Sherman ordered a frontal assault, which was repulsed with heavy casualties, and then withdrew. During this period, the overland half of Grant's offensive was failing. His lines of communication were disrupted by raids by Van Dorn, who destroyed his large supply depot at Holly Springs, and by Brig. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest . Unable to subsist his army without these supplies, Grant abandoned his overland advance. In early January, McClernand arrived at Memphis with

14596-653: The West, including the brigades of Brig. Gen. John Gregg , and Col. Peyton H. Colquitt . Loring's division had joined Johnston on May 17 after the retreat from Champion Hill and Johnston was further reinforced by Brig. Gen. William H.T. Walker 's division, and the cavalry division of Brig. Gen. William Hicks Jackson in late May, followed by the divisions of Maj. Gens. John C. Breckinridge and Samuel G. French in June, bringing his total strength to about 36,000 when Vicksburg surrendered. The "Grant's operations against Vicksburg" phase of

14774-483: The Yazoo Delta via Steele's Bayou, just north of Vicksburg, to Deer Creek . This would outflank Fort Pemberton and allow landing troops between Vicksburg and Yazoo City . Confederates once again felled trees in their path, and willow reeds fouled the boats' paddlewheels. This time the Union boats became immobilized, and Confederate cavalry and infantry threatened to capture them. Sherman sent infantry assistance to repel

14952-419: The Yazoo River to the mouth of Chickasaw Bayou where they spent the night. At 9 a.m., the next morning, the force, minus one gunboat, continued upriver to Drumgould's Bluff and engaged the enemy batteries. During the fighting, Choctaw suffered more than fifty hits, but no casualties occurred. Around 6 p.m., the troops disembarked and marched along Blake's Levee toward the guns. As they neared Drumgould's Bluff,

15130-530: The attack to begin. By 11:30 a.m., Union forces had reached the Confederate main line and at about 1 p.m., they took the crest while the Confederates retreated in disorder. The Federals swept forward, capturing the crossroads and closing the Jackson Road escape route. One of Pemberton's divisions (Bowen's) then counterattacked, pushing the Federals back beyond the Champion Hill crest before their surge came to

15308-442: The backswamps were, for all practical purposes, untamed wildernesses, utterly impassable by a man on horseback or by any form of wheeled vehicle, and very difficult even for a man on foot." About twelve miles (19 km) up the Yazoo River were Confederate batteries and entrenchments at Haynes Bluff. The Louisiana land west of Vicksburg was also difficult, with many streams and poor country roads, widespread winter flooding, and it

15486-489: The ballots cast) over Stephen Douglas (178,765; 37.5%), John C. Breckinridge (16,765; 3.5%), and John Bell (12,776; 2.7%). Throughout the war, Republicans dominated Pennsylvania politics under the capable leadership of Governor Andrew G. Curtin , a strong supporter of President Lincoln. The extreme southern tier of the state included a fair number of Copperheads , particularly in Fulton , Adams , and York counties. On

15664-494: The battle and Lee ordered infantry reinforcements under Robert E. Rodes moved within a mile of the battle, still concealed, in case the Union broke through Stuart's lines. Meanwhile, as Buford's forces at St. James began to make headway, Pleasonton ordered a withdrawal of all Union forces across the Rappahannock. As the threat to Confederate positions at Brandy Station lifted, Rodes withdrew his infantry back to their camp at Pony Mountain. By 9:00 p.m. all Union troops were across

15842-580: The battle at Brandy Station, but Lincoln had replied that "Lee's army, not Richmond, is your true objective." Meanwhile, Ewell's Corps was passing Front Royal and approaching Winchester. The Union garrison was commanded by Major General Robert H. Milroy and consisted of 6,900 troops posted in Winchester itself and a detachment of 1,800 men ten miles (16 km) east in Berryville, Virginia . The Union defenses consisted of three forts on high ground just outside

16020-417: The battle started. The new commander brooked no delay in chasing the rebels north. Meade's advance was sluggish but was further advanced than Lee knew. Lee underestimated his new foe, expecting him to be easy to anticipate and slow to respond, much like Hooker. Meade wanted to defend further south, but when battle was joined at Gettysburg he hastened all corps there. Taking advantage of interior lines, Meade

16198-481: The battle was underway. Stuart had taken all Lee's best cavalry, leaving the main army with two third-rate, ill-equipped, poorly led brigades that could not handle the reconnaissance challenge in hostile country. Stuart had taken the bulk of the cavalry on a counter-clockwise sweep near the coast behind the Union army and was out of contact with Lee for a week, depriving Lee of knowledge of the federal army. Trying to find Lee, he solved his intelligence problem by reading

16376-493: The canal by employing local laborers and some soldiers. Many of the men fell victim to tropical diseases and heat exhaustion, and the work was abandoned by July 24. (Williams was killed two weeks later in the Battle of Baton Rouge ). In the fall of 1862, Maj. Gen. Henry W. Halleck was promoted from command of the Western Theater to General-in-Chief of all Union armies. On November 23, he indicated to Grant his preference for

16554-463: The canal to 60 feet wide and 7 feet deep and the effort became known as Grant's Canal. It was not properly engineered based upon the hydrology of the Mississippi River, however, and a sudden rise in the river broke through the dam at the head of the canal and flooded the area. The canal began to fill up with back water and sediment. In a desperate effort to rescue the project, two huge steam-driven dipper dredges, Hercules and Sampson , attempted to clear

16732-559: The channel, but the dredges were exposed to Confederate artillery fire from the bluffs at Vicksburg and driven away. By late March, work on the canal was abandoned. (Remnants of about 200 yards of Grant's Canal are maintained by the Vicksburg National Military Park in Louisiana). Grant ordered Brig. Gen. James B. McPherson to construct a canal of several hundred yards from the Mississippi to Lake Providence , northwest of

16910-572: The city of Chambersburg . Fears were raised in Pittsburgh in the summer of 1863 when Morgan's Raid approached Pennsylvania before it was thwarted in neighboring Ohio . Pennsylvania also saw the Battle of Gettysburg , near Gettysburg . Many historians consider this battle to be a major turning point of the Civil War. Federal dead from this battle rest at Gettysburg National Cemetery , site of Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address . Several smaller engagements were also fought in Pennsylvania, including

17088-425: The city. Johnston ordered the evacuation of Jackson, but Gregg was to defend Jackson until the evacuation was completed. By 10 a.m., both Union army corps were near Jackson and had engaged the enemy. Rain, Confederate resistance, and poor defenses prevented heavy fighting until around 11 a.m., when Union forces attacked in numbers and slowly but surely pushed the enemy back. In mid-afternoon, Johnston informed Gregg that

17266-482: The city. Once they had completed the downstream passage, they would not be able to return past Vicksburg's guns because the river current would slow them too much. On March 29, McClernand set his troops to work building bridges and corduroy roads . They filled in the swamps in their way as well, and by April 17 they had a rough, tortuous 70-mile (110 km) road from Milliken's Bend to the proposed river crossing at Hard Times, Louisiana , below Vicksburg. On April 16,

17444-535: The city. This would allow passage to the Red River, through Bayous Baxter and Macon, and the Tensas and Black Rivers. Reaching the Red River, Grant's force could join with Banks at Port Hudson. McPherson reported that the connection was navigable on March 18, but the few "ordinary Ohio River boats" that had been sent to Grant for navigation of the bayous could only transport 8,500 men. The boats through Lake Providence increased

17622-510: The corps he had recruited (the XIII Corps under Brig. Gen. George W. Morgan ) and commenced his operation down the Mississippi. On January 4, he ordered Sherman to attach his XV Corps to the expedition, calling his combined 32,000-man force the Army of the Mississippi . This was a direct provocation against Grant, but Sherman acceded to the senior officer. Sherman suggested beginning with a combined land and naval movement against Fort Hindman, on

17800-417: The crossing of Fourteen Mile Creek and arrayed his men and artillery accordingly. As Logan's men approached, the Confederates opened fire, initially causing heavy casualties. Some Union troops broke, but Logan rallied a force to hold the line. Confederate troops attacked the line but were forced to retire. Additional Union troops arrived and counterattacked. Heavy fighting ensued that continued for six hours, but

17978-410: The defenders retreated to the protection of the fort and adjacent rifle-pits. Porter, on January 10, moved his fleet towards Fort Hindman and bombarded it, withdrawing at dusk. Union artillery fired on the fort from positions across the river on January 11, and the infantry moved into position for an attack. Union ironclads commenced shelling the fort and Porter's fleet passed it to cut off any retreat. As

18156-453: The departure of the army, protect Richmond from any Union incursion across the Rappahannock, and pursue the enemy if Hill thought it advantageous. By the following morning, Hooker's chief of staff, General Daniel Butterfield , had received various reports that at least a portion of the Confederate Army was moving. The next day, June 5, Hooker canceled all leave and army furloughs and instructed that all troops be prepared to march if necessary. In

18334-483: The determination of the Lincoln Administration. Lee did know he was seriously short of supplies for his own army, so he planned the campaign primarily as a full-scale raid that would seize supplies. He wrote: If we can baffle them [Yankees] in their various designs this year & our people are true to our cause...our success will be certain.... [and] next year there will be a great change in public opinion at

18512-560: The emergency; being unorganized, untrained, unequipped and poorly led, they were more trouble than they were worth. When the battle began they broke and ran away. The battles of the Gettysburg Campaign were fought in the following sequence; they are described in the context of logical, sometimes overlapping divisions of the campaign. On June 3, 1863, Lee's army began to slip away northwesterly from Fredericksburg , leaving A.P. Hill's Corps in fortifications above Fredericksburg to cover

18690-513: The evacuation was complete and that he should disengage and follow. Soon after, the Union troops entered Jackson and had a celebration hosted by Grant, who had been traveling with Sherman's corps, in the Bowman House. They then burned part of the town, destroyed numerous factories, and cut the railroad connections with Vicksburg. Johnston's evacuation is seen as a mistake because he could, by late on May 14, have had 11,000 troops at his disposal and by

18868-399: The face of a large, battle-hardened attack force. When Lee finally got news of the approaching Federal army, he ordered his scattered forces to concentrate at Gettysburg, a crossroads junction in heavily wooded areas. Over three days, July 1–3, both armies arrived piecemeal; the Confederate forces from the north and northwest, while Union forces from the south and east. By July 1, Meade was to

19046-660: The fall of 1862, thirteen Union governors assembled in Altoona, Pennsylvania , at the Loyal War Governors' Conference . Governor Andrew G. Curtin assembled this meeting; its purpose was to discuss strategy, troop quotas, and the Union. The governors affirmed their support towards and expressed their concerns regarding the war effort and the emancipation proclamation. They then traveled to Washington, DC, to meet Abraham Lincoln and relay their conclusions. A few weeks later, Lincoln removed General George B. McClellan from commanding

19224-434: The fight, the ironclads moved within 100 yards of the Confederate guns and silenced the lower batteries of Fort Wade. The Confederate upper batteries at Fort Cobun remained out of reach and continued to fire. Due to the strong Confederate resistance, Grant and Porter decided it was not feasible to make an amphibious landing at Grand Gulf, but later landed at Bruinsburg, Mississippi , instead. The Union ironclads (one of which,

19402-578: The fortress into surrender failed. They shelled Vicksburg throughout July and fought some minor battles with a few Confederate vessels in the area, but their forces were insufficient to attempt a landing, and they abandoned attempts to force the surrender of the city. Farragut investigated the possibility of bypassing the fortified cliffs by digging a canal across the neck of the river's bend, the De Soto Peninsula. On June 28, Brig. Gen. Thomas Williams , attached to Farragut's command, began digging work on

19580-592: The governorship following the war). Although he was born in Spain , George G. Meade lived much of his life in Pennsylvania and is buried in Philadelphia. Herman Haupt , who commanded the U.S. Military Railroad , revolutionized military transportation in the United States and was one of the unsung heroes of the war. Significant naval leaders included Admiral David D. Porter and Rear Admiral John Dahlgren . Pennsylvania

19758-474: The gunboats above deck and Confederates felled more trees to block the way. These delays allowed the Confederates time to quickly construct Fort Pemberton near the confluence of the Tallahatchie and Yalobusha Rivers near Greenwood, Mississippi , which repulsed the naval force on March 11, March 14, and March 16. The Union effort collapsed in early April. Admiral Porter started an effort on March 14 to go up

19936-501: The gunboats returned to their anchorages at the mouth of the Yazoo. Grant's army began marching inland from Bruinsburg. Advancing on the Rodney Road towards Port Gibson, they ran into Confederate outposts after midnight and skirmished with them for around three hours. After 3 a.m., the fighting stopped. Union forces advanced on the Rodney Road and a plantation road at dawn. At 5:30 a.m.,

20114-504: The high ground of the loess bluffs above Hayne's Bluff and below Yazoo City by blowing up the Mississippi River levee near Moon Lake , some 150 miles (240 km) above Vicksburg, near Helena, Arkansas , and following the Yazoo Pass (an old route from Yazoo City to Memphis, which was curtailed by the 1856 levee construction that sealed off the Pass from the Mississippi River to Moon Lake) into

20292-475: The importance of Vicksburg; he wrote "Vicksburg is the key. ...The war can never be brought to a close until that key is in our pocket." Lincoln also envisioned a two-pronged offensive, but one up and down the river. Maj. Gen. John A. McClernand , a War Democrat politician, had convinced Lincoln that he could lead an army down the river and take Vicksburg. Lincoln approved his proposal and wanted Maj. Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks to advance up river from New Orleans at

20470-762: The keel up: the USS Manayunk , Marietta , Sandusky , and Umpqua . Pittsburgh rolling mills supplied the armor for many of the ironclads that were built in New York and Philadelphia. As a result of its vital role as a Federal raw material source and its proximity to the Mason–Dixon line , Pennsylvania was the target of several raids by the Confederate States Army . These included cavalry raids in 1862 and 1863 by J.E.B. Stuart , in 1863 by John Imboden , and in 1864 by John McCausland in which his troopers burned

20648-413: The largest guns in the world. The foundry produced 1,193 guns (15 percent of the total U.S. wartime artillery production) and almost 200,000 artillery projectiles. Other prominent Pittsburgh area factories included Singer, Nimick, and Co. (maker of 3" Ordnance rifles) and Smith, Park, and Co., which produced more than 300,000 artillery projectiles. Pittsburgh industries collectively manufactured 10 percent of

20826-423: The latter replacing the wounded W.H.F. "Rooney" Lee ) between the Union army and Washington, moving north through Rockville to Westminster and on into Pennsylvania, hoping to capture supplies along the way and cause havoc near the enemy capital. Stuart and his three brigades departed Salem Depot at 1 a.m. on June 25. Unfortunately for Stuart's plan, the Union army's movement was underway and his proposed route

21004-836: The leading elements of his army in Culpeper on June 7 and ordered Albert G. Jenkins ' cavalry to advance northward through the Shenandoah Valley. He also wrote to John D. Imboden and ordered him to attract Union forces in Hampshire County and to disrupt their communications and logistics as well as acquire cattle for use by the Confederate Army. To support these movements, Lee wrote to General Samuel Jones and asked him to spare any troops that he could. The following day, he wrote to James Seddon , Confederate Secretary of War, and attempted to persuade him to send troops currently in North Carolina to reinforce either his army or Confederate forces in

21182-517: The lifeline of Vicksburg. Despite McPherson's victory, the presence of Confederate forces attacking Grant's right flank caused him to reconsider his plan. He learned that Gen. Joseph E. Johnston was due in Jackson with reinforcements within the next couple of days, and there was a rumor that Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard would also arrive on the scene. In this situation, the Union army would be between enemy forces on each flank. Therefore, he chose to deal with

21360-474: The main Confederate army was marching through Pennsylvania, Lincoln was unable to give Meade more firepower. The vast majority of the 700,000 Federal soldiers (except for Grant's 70,000 near Vicksburg) were noncombatants that held static defensive posts that Lincoln feared to uncover, or like Rosecrans at Nashville, they were afraid to move. Urgently the President called for 100,000 civilian militiamen to turn out for

21538-476: The meantime, Longstreet's and Ewell's corps were camped in and around Culpeper . With more Union reports intimating that Lee had moved a large portion of his army, Hooker ordered Sedgwick to conduct a reconnaissance in force across the Rappahannock River . A small skirmish began shortly after 5:00 p.m. as Vermont and New Jersey troops, supported by a heavy Federal artillery bombardment, paddled across

21716-492: The men of his army, assuming they could handle any challenge he gave them. Lee's movement started on the first of June and within a short time was well on its way through Maryland, with Union forces moving north along parallel lines. Lee's cavalry, under General Jeb Stuart had the primary mission of gathering intelligence on where the enemy position was, but Stuart failed and instead raided some supply trains. He did not rejoin Lee until

21894-430: The morning of July 1, the same time that his Confederate infantry colleagues began to fight Union cavalrymen under John Buford at Gettysburg. Leaving Hampton's Brigade and the wagon train at Dillsburg , Stuart headed for Carlisle , hoping to find Ewell. Instead, he found nearly 3,000 Pennsylvania and New York militia occupying the borough. After lobbing a few shells into town during the early evening of July 1 and burning

22072-487: The morning of May 15, another 4,000. The fall of the Mississippi state capital was a blow to Confederate morale. Having broken the rail links, Grant temporarily abandoned the city to allow his troops to concentrate on Vicksburg. Johnston retreated with most of his army up the Canton Road, but he ordered Pemberton to leave Edwards Station and attack the Federals at Clinton. Pemberton and his generals felt that Johnston's plan

22250-448: The morning of May 17. The corps encountered the Confederates behind breastworks and took cover as enemy artillery began firing. Union Brig. Gen. Michael K. Lawler formed his 2nd Brigade, Brig. Gen. Eugene A. Carr 's Division, which surged out of a river meander scar, across the front of the Confederate forces, and into the enemy's breastworks, held by Brig. Gen. John C. Vaughn 's inexperienced East Tennessee Brigade. Confused and panicked,

22428-497: The mountain passes with part of his force while the Army of Northern Virginia was still south of the Potomac and that he was to cross the river with the remainder of the army and screen the right flank of Ewell's Second Corps. Instead of taking a direct route north near the Blue Ridge Mountains, Stuart chose to reach Ewell's flank by taking his three best brigades (those of Wade Hampton , Fitzhugh Lee , and John R. Chambliss ,

22606-610: The national level, Simon Cameron served as Secretary of War during the early years of Lincoln's administration. Congressman Thaddeus Stevens became one of the leading voices of the Radical Republicans in Washington. He was hawkish toward both the war efforts and his harsh views on Reconstruction . Stevens' Caledonia Iron Works were burned by Jubal A. Early 's Confederates during the Gettysburg Campaign in direct response to his strong stance supporting scorched earth policies in

22784-410: The naval force was insufficiently manned with ground troops to finish the job. What might have achieved success in the summer of 1862 was no longer possible by November because the Confederates had amply reinforced the garrison by that time. Also, reliable navigation on the river was seasonal, and the natural fall in the level of the river during the fall and winter months limited the utility of shipping,

22962-466: The opposing armies during the Gettysburg Campaign. The Pennsylvania Capitol Preservation Committee maintains and preserves just under 400 of Pennsylvania's historic Civil War battle flags The State Museum of Pennsylvania houses an extensive general collection of Civil War artifacts, as well as Peter Rothermel 's massive painting of the Battle of Gettysburg. The National Civil War Museum in Harrisburg

23140-579: The outer defenses of Fort Couch , where they skirmished with the outer picket line for over an hour, the northernmost engagement of the Gettysburg campaign. They later withdrew in the direction of Carlisle . Jeb Stuart enjoyed the glory of circumnavigating an enemy army, which he had done on two previous occasions in 1862, during the Peninsula Campaign and at the end of the Maryland Campaign . It

23318-496: The overwhelming Union force prevailed. Gregg's men left the field. Although they lost the battle, they had held up a much superior Union force for a day. General Gregg, under orders to withdraw to Jackson in the face of a superior force, withdrew five miles (8 km) in the direction of Jackson to Mississippi Springs, Mississippi. This retrograde movement exposed the Southern Railroad of Mississippi to Union forces, thus severing

23496-506: The rapidly expanding United States Navy , and food supplies. The Phoenixville Iron Company by itself produced well over 1,000 cannons , and the Frankford Arsenal was a major supply depot. Pennsylvania was the site of the bloodiest battle of the war, the Battle of Gettysburg , which became widely known as one of the turning points of the Civil War. Numerous more minor engagements and skirmishes were also fought in Pennsylvania during

23674-519: The regiment while it was stationed in South Carolina, and was integrated further with the enlistment of additional formerly enslaved Black men in 1864 while the regiment was engaged in the Union's Red River Campaign across Louisiana. Leading major generals from Pennsylvania included Winfield S. Hancock , John F. Reynolds , Samuel W. Crawford , John W. Geary , and John F. Hartranft (the latter two would use their military careers to propel them to

23852-678: The remaining forces (about 40,000) down the railroad line to Oxford , where he would wait for developments, hoping to lure the Confederate army out of the city to attack him in the vicinity of Grenada, Mississippi . On the Confederate side, forces in Mississippi were under the command of Lt. Gen. John C. Pemberton , an officer from Pennsylvania who chose to fight for the South . Pemberton had approximately 12,000 men in Vicksburg and Jackson, Mississippi , and Maj. Gen. Earl Van Dorn had approximately 24,000 at Grenada. Meanwhile, political forces were at work. President Abraham Lincoln had long recognized

24030-493: The reported Union column moving to the crossroads. Lee spotted the Union troops and they soon saw him. If this force was not stopped, it would cut the Confederates off from their Vicksburg base. Pemberton received warning of the Union movement and sent troops to his left flank. Union forces at the Champion House moved into action and emplaced artillery to begin firing. When Grant arrived at Champion Hill, around 10 a.m., he ordered

24208-465: The river and overran Confederate positions on the southern bank. As a precaution, Lee temporarily halted Ewell's Corps, but when he saw that Hooker would not press the Fredericksburg line to bring on a battle, he ordered Ewell to continue. The same day as Federal troops crossed the river, General Buford wrote that he had received credible information that "all of the available cavalry of the Confederacy"

24386-418: The river. Brandy Station was the largest predominantly cavalry fight of the war, and the largest to take place on American soil. It was a tactical draw, although Pleasonton withdrew before finding the location of Lee's infantry nearby and Stuart claimed a victory, attempting to disguise the embarrassment of a cavalry force being surprised as it was by Pleasonton. The battle established the emerging reputation of

24564-403: The run; one boat did not make it, though no one was killed. The crew floated downstream on the boat's remnants. The final piece of Grant's strategy was to divert Pemberton's attention from the river crossing site that the Union troops would use. Grant chose two operations: a feint by Sherman against Snyder's Bluff, Mississippi , north of Vicksburg (see the Battle of Snyder's Bluff below), and

24742-472: The same time. McClernand began organizing regiments, sending them to Memphis. Back in Washington, D.C. , Halleck was nervous about McClernand and gave Grant control of all troops in his own department. McClernand's troops were split into two corps, one under McClernand, the other under Sherman. McClernand complained but to no avail. Grant appropriated his troops, one of several maneuvers in a private dispute within

24920-544: The situation, when the Stonewall Brigade arrived just after dawn to cut the turnpike to the north, Milroy's men began to surrender in large numbers. Milroy escaped personally but the Second Battle of Winchester cost the Union about 4,450 casualties (4,000 captured) out of 7,000 engaged, while the Confederates lost only 250 of 12,500 engaged. "Fighting Joe" Hooker did not know Lee's intentions, and Stuart's cavalry masked

25098-516: The south of Lee, cutting off his retreat and forcing him to fight. Joseph Hooker , commanding the Army of the Potomac, wanted to attack Richmond, but Lincoln vetoed that idea because - in his view - Hooker's goal should have been fighting and defeating the Confederacy's most important army in the field, Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. When Hooker demanded control of the garrison at Harper's Ferry or he would resign, Lincoln accepted and replaced Hooker with George Meade on June 28, just three days before

25276-543: The south of the city. Instead, he decided to break the city's supply line by seizing the railroad from Jackson to Vicksburg. He gave orders for his three corps (Sherman having arrived across the river) to advance over three separate routes to attack the railroad at Edwards Station (the westernmost objective, with McClernand's corps), Clinton (easternmost, with McPherson's) and Midway Station (center, with Sherman's). On May 10, Pemberton ordered all reinforcements arriving at Jackson to march to Raymond , 20 miles (32 km) to

25454-469: The southwest. Brig. Gen. John Gregg 's overstrength brigade, having endured a grueling march from Port Hudson, Louisiana , began marching to Raymond the next morning, arriving late in the afternoon of May 11. On May 12, Gregg's brigade moved to ambush a Union raiding party at Fourteen Mile Creek. The raiding party turned out to be Maj. Gen. John A. Logan 's Division of the XVII Corps. Gregg decided to dispute

25632-462: The state government removed its archives from the town for safekeeping. In much of southern Pennsylvania, the Gettysburg campaign became widely known as the "emergency of 1863". The military campaign resulted in the displacement of thousands of refugees from Maryland and Pennsylvania who fled northward and eastward to avoid the oncoming Confederates, and resulted in a shift in demographics in several southern Pennsylvania boroughs and counties. Although

25810-539: The threat from the east first and ordered Sherman and McPherson to seize Jackson. On May 9, Gen. Johnston received a dispatch from the Confederate Secretary of War directing him to "proceed at once to Mississippi and take chief command of the forces in the field". When he arrived in Jackson on May 13 from Middle Tennessee , he learned that two army corps—Sherman's and McPherson's—were advancing on Jackson and that Gregg had only about 6,000 troops available to defend

25988-622: The total U.S. wartime production of artillery projectiles. The U.S. Allegheny Arsenal was the primary military manufacturing facility for U.S. Army accouterments, as well as saddles and other cavalry equipment. In addition, the Allegheny Arsenal produced as many as 40,000 bullets and cartridges every day (more than 14 million per year), supplying between 5 and 10 percent of the Army's annual small arms ammunition requirements. Five Ellet -class rams were converted from civilian towboats at Pittsburgh. In addition, four ironclads were built from

26166-428: The town. Milroy's tenure at Winchester had been marked by incivility toward the civilian population, who resented his oppressive rule, and the Confederate troops were eager to destroy his force. General-in-chief Henry Halleck did not want any Union force stationed in Winchester beyond what was necessary as an outpost to monitor Confederate movement and repeatedly ordered Milroy's superior, Maj. Gen. Robert C. Schenck of

26344-535: The troops at Disharoon's plantation and disembarked them on the Mississippi shore at Bruinsburg, below Grand Gulf. Grant landed 17,000 soldiers there, the largest amphibious operation in American military history until the Invasion of Normandy . The men immediately began marching overland towards Port Gibson, Mississippi , where, on May 1, they fought the Battle of Port Gibson with Bowen's Confederates. Bowen's right flank

26522-457: The urging of Grant—who was advised by the navy that President Lincoln liked the idea—resumed digging. Sherman derisively called the work "Butler's Ditch" (since it was Maj. Gen. Benjamin Butler who had sent Williams upriver to do the work), which was barely 6 feet wide by 6 feet deep. Grant, undoubtedly influenced by Lincoln's continual inquiries as to the status of the canal, ordered Sherman to expand

26700-443: The usable draft of riverboats, and the quantity of men, supplies, and equipment, they could transport. Grant's army marched south down the Mississippi Central Railroad , making a forward base at Holly Springs . He planned a two-pronged assault in the direction of Vicksburg. His principal subordinate, Maj. Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman , was to advance down the river with four divisions (about 32,000 men) and Grant would continue with

26878-461: The vanguard of his force. On May 16, about 7 a.m., the Union forces engaged the Confederates and the Battle of Champion Hill began. Pemberton's force drew up into a defensive line along a crest of a ridge overlooking Jackson Creek. Pemberton was unaware that one Union column was moving along the Jackson Road against his unprotected left flank. For protection, Pemberton posted Brig. Gen. Stephen D. Lee 's men atop Champion Hill where they could watch for

27056-446: The wagon train that were it not for his fatigued horses "he would have marched down the 7th Street Road [and] took Abe & Cabinet prisoners." Stuart had planned to reach Hanover, Pennsylvania , by the morning of June 28, but rode into Westminster, Maryland , instead late on the afternoon of June 29. Here his men clashed briefly with and overwhelmed two companies of the 1st Delaware Cavalry under Maj. Napoleon B. Knight, chasing them

27234-413: The war still raged, efforts were underway in Gettysburg to preserve portions of the battlefield for future generations to tribute those men who fought there. Pennsylvania also took steps to preserve and record the history of each regiment and unit raised in the state, as well as the muster rolls. In 1869, the official commonwealth historian Samuel Penniman Bates wrote the monumental five-volume History of

27412-491: The war, Pennsylvania mustered 215 infantry regiments, as well as dozens of emergency militia regiments that were raised to repel threatened invasions in 1862 and 1863 by the Confederate States Army . Twenty-two cavalry regiments were also mustered, as well as dozens of light artillery batteries. Most Pennsylvania soldiers fought in the Eastern Theater , with only about 10% serving elsewhere. The thirteen regiments of

27590-612: The war, like Secretary of War Simon Cameron and the fiery Radical Republican abolitionist Representative Thaddeus Stevens . A small number of Pennsylvanians joined the ranks of the Confederacy, including such leaders Generals John C. Pemberton and Josiah Gorgas . Over 360,000 Pennsylvanians served in the Union Army , more than any other Northern state except New York . (Other states sent larger proportions of their population, but not larger numbers.) Beginning with President Lincoln's first call for troops and continuing throughout

27768-514: The war. The Philadelphia region was a significant contributor to the war effort. The Frankford Arsenal was a vital source of small-arms, ammunition, artillery shells, and time fuses to the Federal Army and state militia. The Philadelphia Navy Yard provided an important source of ships, sailors, and supplies for the United States Navy during the war. The vast majority of the coal used by

27946-424: The west of Middleburg. The cavalry brigades of Irvin Gregg and Judson Kilpatrick were accompanied by infantry from Col. Strong Vincent 's brigade on the Ashby's Gap Turnpike. Buford's cavalry division moved northwest against Stuart's left flank, but made little progress against Grumble Jones's and John R. Chambliss's brigades. The Battle of Upperville ended as Stuart conducted a fierce fighting withdrawal and took up

28124-472: The west. On June 9, Lee ordered Stuart to cross the Rappahannock and raid Union forward positions, screening the Confederate Army from observation or interference as it moved north. Anticipating this imminent offensive action, Stuart ordered his troopers into bivouac around Brandy Station . Alfred Pleasonton's combined arms force consisted of 8,000 cavalrymen and 3,000 infantry, while Stuart commanded about 9,500 Confederates. Pleasonton's attack plan called for

28302-446: The western slope and neared the crest, the lead elements of Grumble Jones ' brigade rode over the crown. For several hours there was desperate fighting on the slopes of the hill as many confusing charges and counter-charges swept back and forth. The section of Union troops sent to Stevensburg were bluffed into withdrawing and turned eastward to reinforce Gregg on Fleetwood Hill. Generals Lee and Ewell rode out to Brandy Station to observe

28480-450: Was a critical source of raw materials to the Union's war effort, particularly anthracite coal . The Commonwealth supplied all of this "smokeless" coal for the military's purposes, as well as the majority of bituminous coal also used in the war effort. Nearly 80% of all the iron for the government came from Pennsylvania foundries , as well as significant quantities of flour, meat, foodstuffs, textiles, and uniforms. The Cumberland Valley

28658-479: Was a fierce mounted fight of four hours with about 250 total casualties. Munford withdrew toward Middleburg . While the fighting occurred at Aldie, the Union cavalry brigade of Col. Alfred N. Duffié arrived south of Middleburg in the late afternoon and drove in the Confederate pickets. Stuart was in the town at the time and managed to escape before his brigades under Munford and Beverly Robertson routed Duffié in an early morning assault on June 18. The primary action of

28836-520: Was a turning point in the American Civil War , with Lee increasingly pushed back toward Richmond until his surrender in April 1865. The Union Army of the Potomac was commanded by Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker and then (from June 28) by Maj. Gen. George G. Meade . After his victory in the Battle of Chancellorsville , Lee's Army of Northern Virginia moved north for a massive raid designed to obtain desperately needed supplies, to undermine civilian morale in

29014-400: Was able to draw out significant Confederate forces to chase him, and Pemberton's defenses were dispersed too far around the state. (Pemberton was also wary of Nathaniel Banks's impending advance up the river from Baton Rouge to threaten Port Hudson.) . Of Grierson's raid, Grant writes: It was at Port Gibson I first heard through a Southern paper of the complete success of Colonel Grierson, who

29192-640: Was among the fertile farming regions that supplied vast amounts of food and grain to the Army. The railroads became critical in transporting materiel and troops. In particular, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and the Pennsylvania Railroad were of importance, as well as the Northern Central Railway , which led from Harrisburg to Baltimore, Maryland , and Washington, D.C. The Bethlehem Iron Works produced railroad rails and armor plating for

29370-435: Was blocked by columns of Federal infantry from Hancock's II Corps, forcing him to veer farther to the east than either he or General Lee had anticipated. This prevented Stuart from linking up with Ewell as ordered and deprived Lee of the use of his prime cavalry force, the "eyes and ears" of the army, while advancing into unfamiliar enemy territory. Stuart's command reached Fairfax Court House , where they were delayed for half

29548-478: Was close behind Lee, and had cut off the line of retreat back to Virginia. Lee had to fight, but first he had to rush to reassemble his scattered forces at the crossroads town of Gettysburg before Meade defeated them piecemeal. Lee had 60,000 infantry and 10,200 cavalry (Meade's staff estimated Lee had 140,000). This time it was Lee's turn to be fooled; he gullibly accepted misinformation that suggested Meade had twice as many soldiers, when in fact he had 86,000. Though

29726-528: Was dangerous and decided instead to attack the Union supply trains moving from Grand Gulf to Raymond. On May 16, however, Pemberton received another order from Johnston repeating his former directions. Pemberton had already started after the supply trains and was on the Raymond-Edwards Road with his rear at the crossroads one-third mile south of the crest of Champion Hill. Thus, when he ordered a countermarch, his rear, including his many supply wagons, became

29904-641: Was driven in, and Bowen's men conducted a fighting withdrawal from the field. On May 3, the Confederates abandoned the fortifications at Grand Gulf. The Confederates had won a hollow victory, since the loss at Grand Gulf caused just a slight change in Grant's offensive. To ensure that troops would not be withdrawn to Grand Gulf to assist Confederates there, a combined Union army-navy force feigned an attack on Snyder's Bluff. After noon on April 29, Lt. Cdr. K. Randolph Breese , with his eight gunboats and ten transports carrying Maj. Gen. Francis P. Blair 's division, inched up

30082-528: Was in Culpeper County . On June 7, George H. Sharpe , head of the Bureau of Military Information , erroneously reported to Hooker that, while J. E. B. Stuart was preparing a large cavalry raid, Lee's infantry would be withdrawing to Richmond. Hooker decided to preemptively attack the Confederate cavalry force in Culpeper and ordered Cavalry Corps commander Alfred Pleasonton to command the assault. Lee rejoined

30260-483: Was initially hesitant about assaulting the defenses at Winchester, Early discovered that there was an unguarded hill west of the fortifications that dominated the battlefield. By 11 a.m. on June 14, Early began moving his forces covertly to take that position. To distract the Union, Ewell ordered demonstrations by John B. Gordon 's brigade and the Maryland Line . At 6 p.m., Confederate artillery opened fire on

30438-461: Was making a raid through central Mississippi...This raid was of great importance, for Grierson had attracted the attention of the enemy from the main movement against Vicksburg. Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant 's Union Army of the Tennessee started the campaign with about 44,500 men, which grew by July to 75,000. The army was composed of five corps: the XIII Corps , under Maj. Gen. John A. McClernand ;

30616-418: Was on the opposite side of the river from the fortress. The city had been under Union naval attack before. Admiral David Farragut moved up the river after his capture of New Orleans and on May 18, 1862, demanded the surrender of Vicksburg. Farragut had insufficient troops to force the issue, and he moved back to New Orleans. He returned with a flotilla in June 1862, but their attempts (June 26–28) to bombard

30794-554: Was substantially larger than the Confederates he faced. About 4:30 a.m. on June 9, Buford's column crossed the Rappahannock River and almost immediately encountered Confederate forces. After overcoming their shock at Buford's surprise attack, Confederate forces rallied and managed to check the Union force near St. James Church. Gregg's force, delayed in getting the leading force into position, finally attacked across Kelly's Ford at 9:00 a.m. Gregg's force divided once across

30972-544: Was tactically important in that near the village the Little River Turnpike intersected both of the turnpikes leading through Ashby's Gap and Snickers Gap into the Valley. The Confederate cavalry brigade of Col. Thomas T. Munford was entering Aldie from the west, preparing to bivouac, when three brigades of Gregg's division entered from the east at about 4 p.m. on June 17, surprising both sides. The resulting Battle of Aldie

31150-464: Was the deadliest of the war. Starting as a chance meeting engagement on July 1, the Confederates were initially successful in driving Union cavalry and two infantry corps from their defensive positions, through the town, and onto Cemetery Hill . On July 2, with most of both armies now present, Lee launched fierce assaults on both flanks of the Union defensive line, which were repulsed with heavy losses on both sides. On July 3, Lee focused his attention on

31328-446: Was to use or construct alternative waterways so that troops could be positioned within striking distance of Vicksburg, without requiring a direct approach on the Mississippi under the Confederate guns. The Williams Canal across De Soto Peninsula had been abandoned by Adm. Farragut and Brig. Gen. Williams in July 1862, but it had the potential to offer a route downriver that bypassed Vicksburg's guns. In late January 1863, Sherman's men, at

31506-494: Was unable to arrange it in time. Grant besieged the Confederate army. On July 4, after six weeks in which the soldiers and civilians of Vicksburg had no food supplies and were bombarded constantly, Pemberton surrendered the city and his army. In addition to Pemberton at his front, Grant had to be concerned with Confederate forces in his rear. He stationed one division in the vicinity of the Big Black River bridge and another reconnoitered as far north as Mechanicsburg , both to act as

31684-447: Was well known for his stubborn determination and would not quit. His final option was bold but risky: Grant would march the Union army down the west side of the Mississippi, cross the river south of Vicksburg, and either attack Vicksburg from the south and the east or join forces with Banks, capture Port Hudson, and then together reduce Vicksburg. Porter would have to sneak past the guns to get sufficient gunboats and transport ships south of

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