Vicksburg and Gettysburg: Northern Advantages to win the Civil War

The battles of Vicksburg and Gettysburg helped the North gain advantage in the Civil War. During the battle of Vicksburg, General Grant succeeded in splitting the Confederacy in two. He did this by laying siege on Vicksburg, Mississippi, where defeated two confederate armies. Five days after Vicksburg surrendered,before which they tried to fight off the Union for 6 weeks, the Union seized control of the Mississippi River. Grant was able to take about 31,000 prisoners, cut off Louisiana, Arkansas, and Texas from the Confederacy, and he encouraged thousands of slaves to leave their plantations or demand wages.

The battle of Gettysburg was a Union victory also. During the 3 day battle, the confederates lost many soldiers. They had about 28,000 casualties, which is 1/3 of the Army of Northern Virginia, while General Meade, a Union Commander, had about 23,000 casualties. Mead allowed the Confederate army to escape, which made Lincoln furious because it made the war last longer.

These two battles were an advantage for the North because Southern armies wouldnt invade the North any longer and the Southern citizens began to criticize the south's military effort.

The battles also changed the political situation. In 1862, British shipbuilders supplied the Confederacy with the Alabama, a iron cruiser, but when news reached the British of the Union victories, the British government impounded the ships. The British also became more dependent on wheat from the Midwest, not cotton, and were against slavery.