Gettysburg was the most dramatic battle of the Civil War, with the most dead & the most ways things could have gone differently. It was a very big turning point in the war. But Vicksburg, which fell at the same time, was even more strategically crucial.
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After July 4, 1863, once Grant had won at Vicksburg & Lee lost at Gettysburg, the war was effectively over in military & diplomatic terms. The South could not force a victory or obtain foreign help. Its only remaining option was for Lincoln to lose the 1864 election.
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Naturally, in order to pursue that course, the Democrats selected the South's greatest weapon: George McClellan.
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Lee was undoubtedly a brilliant general, more tactically clever than Grant. He understood the psychology of a rebel army. But Lee couldn't win on the road. Basically all of Grant's victories were on the road, many of them deep in enemy territory.
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Key elements of Lee's wins: know the terrain better than the opponent, have men fighting on their home ground, have better cavalry recon, choose the better ground. All went against him in Gettysburg.
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David McCullough on Washington Roebling, the man who built the Brooklyn Bridge, & his role at Gettysburg:pic.twitter.com/IrRvJlp64y
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End of conversation
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I have a copy of my ggf's parole card he signed after being captured at Vicksburg at 19 years old.
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