Week 9 Day 2 Recap

The last of the very old, very dramatic, very fun-to-laugh-at VHS tape documentaries - "Union Preserved":

• Vicksburg: Vicksburg was a key point for Grant's forces, since capturing Vicksburg, which was between Union-controlled Memphis and New Orleans. By capturing Vicksburg, Grant would be able to control the Mississippi River, cutting the Confederacy in half. He went down the river past Vicksburg on the west, crossed it, marched farther east to Jackson, Mississippi, then went back west to get to Vicksburg. The Union victory was both a massive morale boost in the North, and a strategic advantage because the North now had control of the Mississippi River.
• Gettysburg: Confederate leader Lee decided to capture Gettysburg by attacking Union forces at Cemetery Ridge. It was essentially a role reversal of Fredericksburg, with Lee's forces head on attacking (and failing). After three days of fighting, it was declared a Union victory. It ended up also being a significant morale boost, especially after President Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address.
• Election of 1864: Back in Washington, an election was soon coming up. The Democrats chose George McClellan to run against Lincoln, and much of the election's results depended on the results of the battlefield. Northern public opinion was turning in favor of McClellan because many were unhappy with Lincoln's strategies, since the war had not yet been won. Once Northern forces took Atlanta, it was lauded as a giant victory, and it all but guaranteed Lincoln's reelection, since it showed that his strategy was working and the Union would be able to win the war.