USA HISTORY

AMERICAN CIVIL WAR(1861 1865)

KEY CIVIL WAR BATTLES IN 1862

[SOURCES]
Grant’s Union army won this battle, taking control of Mississippi River

(A) ** Vicksburg

(B) Gettysburg

(C) Shiloh

(D) Antietam

EXPLANATIONS BELOW

Concept note-1: -The Battle of Vicksburg was a decisive Union victory during the American Civil War that divided the Confederacy and cemented the reputation of Union General Ulysses S. Grant.

Concept note-2: -The Union forces had nearly forty thousand men and greatly outnumbered the Confederates. In the first few weeks of May 1863, Pemberton lost nearly one-half of his forty thousand men to Grant’s army. By the third week of May 1863, the Union troops had driven the Confederates into Vicksburg.

Concept note-3: -Vicksburg’s strategic location on the Mississippi River made it a critical win for both the Union and the Confederacy. The Confederate surrender there ensured Union control of the Mississippi River and cleaved the South in two.

Concept note-4: -Grant conceived a bold new plan: By marching his Army of the Tennessee down the Mississippi River on its western bank, he could cross the river and approach Vicksburg from the south, giving his troops a more favorable position.