Along the Mississippi, Grant moved out from his base on May 7 with 44,000 men. His first objective was Jackson, Mississippi, the capital of the state, held by 6000 Confederates. In a battle on May 12, the Confederates were defeated and withdrew northward.

Having disposed of the only force that could threaten his rear, Grant turned west. At Champion's Hill, halfway between Jackson and Vicksburg, two of his corps commanders, James B. McPherson and McClernand, attacked John C. Pemberton, the commander of the Confederate Army defending Vicksburg. The battle, fought on May 16, was the most severe of the campaign. The Union troops were victorious, and Pemberton retreated. On the next day he made a stand at the Big Black River, was again defeated, and withdrew his army to prepared positions in Vicksburg. After two assaults in which he lost heavily, Grant decided that Vicksburg would have to be starved out. The siege lasted almost six weeks, until July 4, 1863, when Pemberton surrendered.

The Campaign of Vicksburg was of utmost importance to the cause of the Union. It took a Confederate army from the field (the captured Confederates were paroled) and freed Grant's army for other operations. It cut the Confederacy in two and opened a highway for trade between the Middle West and the outside world. In Lincoln's picturesque phrase, "the Father of Waters" would henceforth flow "unvexed to the sea."

E. Tullahoma Campaign

One reason for the success of Grant's campaign was that Confederate troops that might have been sent from Tennessee to relieve Pemberton were held there by the Army of the Cumberland. After Murfreesboro, Rosecrans kept his army in its camps until the middle of June, much to the dismay of the impatient authorities in Washington. Bragg, however, opposing Rosecrans with the Army of Tennessee, dared not weaken his forces. When Rosecrans did move, he undertook a series of maneuvers known as the Tullahoma campaign, which with very little fighting forced Bragg to retreat. In two weeks, Bragg moved about 200 km (about 125 mi) to the southeast and left Middle Tennessee defenseless

F. Gettysburg

While Grant slowly strangled Vicksburg and Rosecrans feinted Bragg halfway across Tennessee, Lee decided to march his troops north toward Pennsylvania. There were several reasons for this bold move. The Confederate government hoped that a decisive victory on Northern soil would win foreign recognition of the Confederacy. In addition, Lee argued that an invasion of the wealthiest urban area of the North would probably lessen the pressure on Confederate forces in Tennessee and at Vicksburg. Perhaps most important, the lush Cumberland Valley would yield food and clothing for Lee's ragged and hungry army.

On June 3, 1863, Lee began to move his Army of Northern Virginia across the Rappahannock. Hooker, who was aware of Lee's movements, shifted the Army of the Potomac northward, using it as a shield between Lee and the capital at Washington. Late in June, Hooker resigned his command, convinced that he had lost the confidence of the administration. On June 28, General George G. Meade replaced Hooker. Meade had been one of Hooker's corps commanders.

On July 1 advance units of the two armies stumbled into each other near the little town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, 16 km (10 mi) north of the Maryland border. Both Lee and Meade realized that a battle was unavoidable. Fighting began that day. Union troops, after early reverses, managed to hold a strategic position on Cemetery Hill. The second day, July 2, saw confused fighting on both Union flanks. Generals Longstreet and John B. Hood assaulted high ground at the Peach Orchard and Little Round Top, but by night the Federals held key positions. The most dramatic action of the battle came on the third day, when General George E. Pickett led a gallant but hopeless charge against the Union center, "the bloody angle." Pickett's drive tried to charge across an open field at Cemetery Ridge, but concentrated Union fire stopped him. The battle was a decisive Union victory, but both armies suffered very heavy losses. Meade's casualties numbered 23,000 and Lee's about 25,000. Lee began his retreat on July 4. To the great disappointment of President Lincoln, Meade did not pursue the Confederate army and make Lee stand and fight. By July 14 the Confederate commander had brought the remnant of his army back to the safety of Virginia. Gettysburg had been a severe defeat for the South, both in terms of men lost and the army's morale. In November 1863 President Lincoln dedicated a national cemetery to those who had died in the Battle of Gettysburg. His speech, known as the Gettysburg Address, became famous as an expression of the democratic spirit and reconfirmed Lincoln's intention to reunite the country.

G. Discontent in the North

From many points of view, Gettysburg and Vicksburg were among the most important Union victories in more than two years of war. Strangely, they coincided with a violent outburst of disloyalty in the North. From the beginning of the conflict, Lincoln had resorted to measures that many Northerners opposed. His suspension of the writ of habeas corpus enabled him to hold critics of the government in prison indefinitely. The Emancipation Proclamation had angered many who were willing to fight for the Union but not for the abolition of slavery. The military draft, which bore hard on men too poor to pay for substitutes, stirred thousands to the brink of revolt. Many others were simply weary of a war to which they could see no end. They wanted peace at almost any price.

The Peace Democrats, often called Copperheads, did not support the Lincoln Administration or the war. One of the most persuasive was Clement L. Vallandigham, an Ohio Democrat who had served three terms in Congress. On May 5, 1863, military authorities arrested Vallandigham after he had made an extreme antiwar speech in Mount Vernon, Ohio. A military court sentenced him to prison, but Lincoln changed the penalty to banishment to the Confederacy. On June 1 publication of the Chicago Times, which was violently anti- Lincoln, was suspended. At the urging of prominent Chicagoans who were sincerely devoted to free speech and a free press, the President quickly lifted the suspension. Before Lincoln acted, however, Fernando Wood, the mayor of New York City, and other fiery opponents of the war inflamed the tempers of the thousands who attended a protest meeting at Cooper Union in that city.

On July 13, 1863, in spite of the signs of trouble, federal authorities tried to put the draft into effect in New York City. A mob, made up mostly of foreign-born laborers, chiefly Irish Americans, who could not pay for substitutes, attacked the draft headquarters and burned and pillaged residences, stores, hotels, and saloons. For four days the mob fought off police, firemen, and the local militia. During that time, property worth $1.5 million was destroyed, and many people lost their lives. A number of the victims of the mob were blacks. The government rushed in troops from the Army of the Potomac and restored order. A month later, drawings for the draft took place without disorder. There were disturbances in other parts of the country, but they did not compare with those of New York City.

H. Prison Camps

After two years each side had taken thousands of prisoners. In the beginning most prisoners were exchanged and returned to their armies after a few months, but after 1863 far fewer exchanges were taking place. One reason for decreasing exchanges was the South's treatment of Northern black soldiers. The South regarded black soldiers as runaway slaves and refused to treat them as legitimate prisoners of war. Confederate policy was to execute or enslave them. Although the South did not systematically carry out this order, the North was reluctant to continue prisoner exchanges. In April 1864 Grant stopped almost all exchanges because the South, with fewer soldiers, had more to lose. The North and its superior manpower could better withstand the loss of its troops.

The treatment of prisoners has been the subject of heated argument. Union prisoners suffered greatly in such Confederate camps as Andersonville Prison in Georgia, and Confederate prisoners suffered in such Union prisons as Camp Douglas, Illinois. In both sections the death rate among prisoners was appalling. Prison conditions, rather than willful mistreatment, caused most of the deaths. Poorly clothed Southern soldiers could not stand the harsh Northern winters. Northern soldiers suffered from the intense heat of Southern summers. Even when the supply of food was sufficient, the food was of poor quality. In general, prisoners received the same rations as the troops who guarded them. However, the fact that deplorable sanitary conditions resulted from ignorance and overcrowding, rather than from malice, did not make their effect less deadly.