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Civil War Turning Points | Battles & Impact

Kayla Armstead, Alexandra Lutz
  • Author
    Kayla Armstead

    Kayla has taught history for over 2 years. They have a Masters in Curriculum and Instruction and Bachelors in Social Science Education from Florida State University. They also have a 6-12 Social Studies Certification.

  • Instructor
    Alexandra Lutz

    Alexandra has taught students at every age level from pre-school through adult. She has a BSEd in English Education.

Learn about the different turning points of the Civil War. Read about the battles of Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, and Vicksburg and their impact on the war. Updated: 11/21/2023
Frequently Asked Questions

Why was July 1863 a turning point in the Civil War?

July 1863 was a turning point in the war because the Union experienced two important victories one after the other. First at the Battle of Gettysburg, then at the Battle of Vicksburg.

What were the three turning points of the Civil War?

The three turning points of the Civil War were at the battles of Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, and Vicksburg. These battles turned the tide of the war in favor of the Union.

Why was Gettysburg the turning point in the Civil War?

Gettysburg was a turning point in the Civil War because the South suffered heavy casualties. It was the deadliest battle of the Civil War and a major blow to southern morale.

Why was the Battle of Chancellorsville important to the Civil War?

The Battle of Chancellorsville was important to the Civil War because it was one of the battles that turned the tide of the war in the North's favor. Although the Union lost the battle, the South lost one of its most important commanders, Stonewall Jackson.

By 1863, the morale of Union soldiers and citizens was shrinking. The previous two years had been disastrous for the Union, with the South winning the majority of the battles and the Union taking on many casualties. The charge at Fredericksburg, one of the largest and deadliest battles of the Civil War, had led to the deaths of 12,500 Union soldiers: three times the number of Confederate deaths. The Union army was dissatisfied with its current commander, General Burnside, who struggled to provide resources for his men. He was replaced with General Joseph Hooker, famously nicknamed "Fighting Joe." His leadership at three major battles was a turning point in the war. A turning point is a significant change in a situation. The Union went from being constantly defeated by the Confederates, to having several important victories later in the war due to the events at Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, and Vicksburg.

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  • 0:05 Time for a Change
  • 1:09 The Battle of Chancellorsville
  • 3:03 The Battle of Gettysburg
  • 5:39 The Siege of Vicksburg
  • 7:09 Lesson Summary

Hooker decided to form a cavalry force in order to cut off the Confederates at Chancellorsville in Virginia. He divided his fighting force into thirds, sending out the cavalry to head to Richmond, severing communications within the Confederacy. The other two parts of his army were intended to trap General Robert E. Lee's army from both sides. However, this did not go as planned. Lee and Stonewall Jackson did not take the bait. Jackson planned to divide their army, even though they were greatly outnumbered by the Union. Jackson took his fighting force into the wilderness, where he hoped to have an advantage. Jackson attacked the next morning, May 2, 1863, surprising Hooker. The Union army was unprepared and was defeated. However, in the battle, Stonewall Jackson was shot and died a few days later. It is estimated that 17,304 Union soldiers and 13,460 Confederate soldiers died.


Map of the Battle of Chancellorsville

a civil war battle map


Why Was Chancellorsville a Turning Point in the War?

Although this battle was a Union defeat, it was still a major turning point in the Civil War. Stonewall Jackson was one of the most respected generals of the Confederacy. Not only was his death a huge blow to Confederate morale, but it affected future Confederate plans. Stonewall Jackson was the brains behind many of the Confederacy's early victories. Without his tactical experience and ideas, the Confederates lost one of their major advantages.

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At the Battle of Gettysburg in Pennsylvania, Lee hoped to win a battle in the north. A victory in the north could give the Confederates the possibility of negotiation to end the war. The two forces faced each other on two hills, dragging out the fighting for days. Without Stonewall Jackson, Confederate military leadership was weaker. The south lost Gettysburg due to poor military leadership and a series of tactical mistakes, which led to high casualties. The infamous Pickett's charge, a march by the Confederates uphill into Union fire, killed thousands of southern soldiers. The southern cavalry also intended to hit the Union forces from behind, but they were stopped by Union soldiers.

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Only one day after the end of the Battle of Gettysburg, on July 4th, 1863, the Union was victorious at Vicksburg after a sixth-month siege to gain control of the Mississippi River. The Union made it a goal to control the Mississippi in order to split the Confederacy in two. This would isolate Texas and New Mexico, weakening the Confederacy. During the siege led by Ulysses S. Grant, a future U.S. president, Union forces attempted to take over Vicksburg. However, it proved difficult as the city was at a difficult point along the river, surrounded by swamps. After several failed attempts, gunships were able to help fighting forces get closer to the city. Confederates struggled to shoot at the Union soldiers from within the city and by July, Vicksburg had run out of supplies and surrendered. Throughout the six-month siege, there was a total of 37,273 casualties. 4,910 of these were Union soldiers, and 32,363 of these were Confederates.


A map of the Battle of Vicksburg

Map of the Battle of Vicksburg


Why was Vicksburg a Turning Point in the War?

Although the war would drag on for two more years, victory at Vicksburg marked the beginning of the end for the Confederacy. The victory at Gettysburg, quickly followed by the successful siege of Vicksburg, on July 4th of all days, gave the Union hope. With control of the Mississippi River, the Confederacy was now divided, as Texas and New Mexico were isolated.

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These turning point battles were not enough to end the war, even though they turned the tide in the Union's favor. Population advantages, transportation infrastructure, and economic factors also led to the end of the war.

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In 1863, the battles of Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, and Vicksburg were turning points in the Civil War that gave the North major advantages for the remaining years of the war. At the Battle of Chancellorsville, the Confederates lost one of their most beloved and intelligent generals, Stonewall Jackson. At Gettysburg, the deadliest event of the Civil War, the South lost due to poor military leadership and tactical failures that led to huge casualties. This battle served as a turning point because of the many casualties and loss of important military officers. Finally, at the Siege of Vicksburg, the Union finally achieved its goal of splitting the South in two, effectively isolating Texas and New Mexico from the Confederacy.

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Video Transcript

Time for a Change

As 1863 dawned, U.S. citizens were losing hope. The previous December, Union forces had engaged in a frontal attack on Confederate lines entrenched at Fredericksburg, Va. It was suicide, and the surrender dashed hopes yet again of capturing Richmond anytime soon. The Emancipation Proclamation had emboldened Lincoln's opponents, and even early supporters of the war were growing tired of the bad news. Lincoln himself was dissatisfied with the war's progress and repeatedly changed commanders. In early 1863, 'Fighting Joe' Hooker was put in charge of the Union army. Many people hoped this was the change they needed to finally wrap up this horrible war.

General Hooker took charge of the Union army in 1863
General Joseph Hooker

We're going to take a brief look at three key battles that took place in 1863. All of them, in their own ways, turned the tide of victory in favor of the Union. Now I know that descriptions of battles can be complicated and confusing, but I think we can strip these down to the basics to see what happened and why each one was so important.

The Battle of Chancellorsville

The first was the Battle of Chancellorsville. The newly appointed Union commander, General Hooker, reorganized the infantry and formed a cavalry. He wanted to strike at Robert E. Lee's army - numbering barely half of his own - while it was still entrenched near Fredericksburg. The Battle of Chancellorsville did turn out to be a decisive turning point in the Union's favor, but not in the way Hooker expected.

General Hooker had divided the Union army into three parts and advanced, intending to trap Lee. Then, he stopped abruptly in the wilderness and set up a defensive position, daring Lee to attack him head on. Once Lee had moved forward into the face of a much larger force, then Hooker could move other troops in behind him. But General Lee decided not to take the bait. Instead, he and Stonewall Jackson conceived a risky plan. They divided their already outnumbered army. Lee stayed in front with a small portion as a distraction, while Stonewall Jackson took most of the army around Hooker's right side, deep in the wilderness. Just before sunset on May 2, 1863, Jackson attacked, throwing the unprepared Union army into chaos. Hooker was forced back the following morning. Another defeat for the Union.

Battle of Chancellorsville Map
Chancellorsville Battle Map

The Battle of Chancellorsville is considered Lee's greatest tactical victory; the much larger Union army was driven from the battlefield and suffered more than 18,000 casualties. But victory came at a heavy price for the South: Stonewall Jackson was accidentally shot in the arm by one of his own men in the darkness of May 2. The arm was amputated successfully, but Jackson died of pneumonia a week later. So even though it was a loss for the Union, Jackson's death made the Battle of Chancellorsville a turning point in the war.

The Battle of Gettysburg

The next decisive battle in 1863 was a Union victory, but it was an accident - kind of. General Lee wanted to keep up the momentum following his victory at Chancellorsville. He believed that a successful invasion of a Northern city would turn popular opinion (and therefore politicians) against Lincoln and the Civil war, ending it for good. So Lee started to gather the Confederate forces in southern Pennsylvania, under strict orders not to engage the enemy until the entire army was in place. While they waited, one of Lee's commanders sent a brigade of soldiers east to a town called Gettysburg for supplies. They didn't expect to run into the Union cavalry.

President Lincoln had gotten wind of the planned invasion and sent the U.S. Army to cut off the invasion force. The two sides surprised each other on July 1, starting the three-day Battle of Gettysburg. Confederate troops forced the Union soldiers back through town, and both generals immediately sent for reinforcements. By nightfall, they faced each other on parallel ridges outside the town. The armies pounded each other the following morning, but a series of leadership errors on both sides dragged the conflict out for yet another day. Lee might have been successful if he'd had a skilled leader like Stonewall Jackson. But he didn't, and a less competent general ordered what is infamously known as Pickett's Charge - a gutsy but suicidal march across a mile-wide open field, up a hill and into the face of a crouching Union artillery and infantry. When the North opened fire, they killed more than half of the 13,000 charging Confederate soldiers in less than an hour. The Southern cavalry, which was to have attacked the rear of the Union line, had also been contained.

Battle of Gettysburg map
Gettysburg Battle Map

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