Changes

January 1, 1863 marked a pivotal moment in the American Civil War. On this date the Emancipation Proclamation, the preliminary of which was issued by President Lincoln on September 22, 1862, took full and permanent effect, thus changing the Union’s ultimate war goal. The Civil War was no longer being fought to preserve the antebellum Union but rather, in the words of Lincoln, was to be a war of “subjugation…the [old] South” was to be destroyed in favor of “new propositions and ideas.”<ref>James McPherson, ''Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era,''(New York: Oxford University Press, 1998), 558</ref>Once the aim of the war changed for the Union, so too did its leaders. The harsh and unpopular actions that were necessary to prevent the prolonged bloody carnage of continual war were tasked to three men. Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, and William T. Sherman innately understood what needed to be done in order to end the war and they courageously performed these duties.

[[File:burnside.jpg|thumbnail|150px|General Ambrose Burnside.]]

Lincoln understood the magnitude of the Emancipation Proclamation and the ensuing consequences. With the threat of their very social, financial, and cultural fabric coming to an end, the Confederacy would fight more vigorously. The Proclamation inflamed Confederate president Jefferson Davis and his fellow Southerners. Lincoln showed no sympathy toward the Confederate ''government'' when he stated, “Having made war on the Government, they were subject to the incidents and calamities of war.”<ref>Gideon Welles, "The History of Emancipation," ''The Galaxy,''14 (December, 1872), 842-843.</ref> The “calamities” of which he spoke, included the emancipation of slaves, who were to be taken into Northern ranks as "contrabands", and for the Union Army to “strike more vigorous blows.”<ref>Welles, 842-843.</ref> Lincoln realized that McClellan was not the man for the job and replaced him with General Ambrose Burnside on November 7, 1862. After the debacle at Fredericksburg in December of that year, Lincoln replaced Burnside with “Fighting Joe” Hooker, an arrogant Irishman from Boston, who advocated governing the country through a military dictatorship. When Hooker failed at Chancellorsville, he was summarily replaced by George Meade on June 28 1863, two days prior to the Battle of Gettysburg.<ref>Thomas Cutrer, Lecture,(Glendale, AZ, April 2011).</ref>

Gettysburg, the bloodiest battle of the war, produced greater than 51,000 dead and wounded soldiers over the course of the first three days of July, 1863. Lee opted to again retreat from Yankee soil, never to return. The following day, General Ulysses S. Grant accepted the surrender of John C. Pemberton and his 30,000 troops at Vicksburg, Mississippi. This accomplishment by Grant secured the entire Mississippi Valley for the Union.<ref>Eric Foner, ''Give Me Liberty! An American History''(New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2009), 512.</ref>Grant’s success at Vicksburg made a lasting impression on the president while Meade’s success at Gettysburg was diminished by his refusal to pursue Lee while in retreat. Conversely, Grant was willing to take risks in order to win battles and destroy the enemy. This did not go unnoticed by Lincoln, who wanted "generals who will fight battles and win victories.”<ref>Shelby Foote, ''The Civil War: A Narrative,'' vol.2, (New York: Random House, 1963), 217</ref> Grant, unlike McClellan, was not afraid to fail, which resulted in his ability to make bold decisions upon which he courageously acted. This was the type of man Lincoln needed to lead his army but dared not replace Meade after his victory at Gettysburg. In a bold move, Abraham Lincoln reopened the position of Lieutenant General and bestowed the position upon Grant, who was then effectively in charge of all Union forces.

[[File:meade.jpg|thumbnail|150px|General George Meade.]]

== Conclusion ==

As Abraham Lincoln so eloquently stated in his Gettysburg Address, November 1863, “this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom- and that the government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth.” <ref>Abraham Lincoln, “Gettysburg Address”, November 1863, The Abraham Lincoln Papers at the Library of Congress, Manuscript Division (Washington, D. C.: American Memory Project, [2000-02]), http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/alhtml/alhome.html.</ref>Lincoln, Grant, and Sherman acted as the war mandated. They had all known failure in their lives, which was perhaps one reason they were empathetic to their defeated Southern counterparts. Generous, if not compassionate terms of surrender were offered to Lee and his army by Grant on April 9, 1865 at Appomattox Court House, Virginia. General Sherman was also gentle in peace when he accepted General Joseph Johnston’s surrender in Raleigh, North Carolina on April 26, 1865; 11 days after the death of Abraham Lincoln. Lee and Johnston both defied orders from Jefferson Davis to continue a guerilla war. Unlike Davis, these Southern generals were honorable soldiers who knew the cause was lost and had no intention of inflicting more casualties on an already devastated nation. They knew the horrors of war and were eager to proceed in peace. All of these men were prepared to carry out President Lincoln’s wish to “achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace.”<ref>Abraham Lincoln, “Second Inaugural Address,” March 4, 1865, National Archives, https://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=true&doc=38.</ref>

==References==

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