Final Stages

Part of the Series: The Unfinished Nation Series

1863 pivotal year in determining outcome of war. Decisive battles at Vicksburg, Gettysburg, and Chattanooga. Ulysses S. Grant named Commander of Western Theater for Union after victory at Vicksburg. Material superiority of North begins to make a difference. South devastated by Sherman's march through Georgia. Grant and Meade pursue Lee in Virginia in 1864. Vastly outnumbered, Lee holds on behind fortifications at Petersburg; finally surrenders to Lee at Appomattox in April of 1865. In military terms, long war is over.