Ulysses S. Grant

Recorded sideUnited States (Union)

Recorded resultvictory

Union victory; Confederate assault stalled and was driven back on the second day

A surprise Confederate assault nearly overran Grant's army on April 6, but a stubborn Union defense (the Hornet's Nest) bought time; the overnight arrival of Buell's Army of the Ohio gave Grant the numbers to counterattack and recover the field on April 7.

What followed

Shocked both nations with its unprecedented bloodshed and demonstrated the war's scale; secured Union momentum in the Western Theater and the loss of Confederate commander Albert Sidney Johnston.

Recorded sideUnited States (Union)

Recorded resultvictory

Decisive Union victory; Pemberton surrendered the city and its garrison on July 4, 1863

Grant's bold campaign of maneuver crossed the Mississippi, cut loose from his supply base, defeated Confederate forces in detail, and bottled Pemberton's army inside Vicksburg; a tightening siege supported by Union naval control of the river starved the garrison into surrender.

What followed

Surrendered the day after Gettysburg, Vicksburg gave the Union full control of the Mississippi River, splitting the Confederacy in two and cutting off its western states. It confirmed Grant as the Union's foremost general.

Recorded sideUnited States (Union)

Recorded resultvictory

Decisive Union victory; Lee surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865

The fall of Petersburg and Richmond forced Lee into a westward retreat; Union numerical superiority, aggressive cavalry pursuit under Sheridan, and the severing of supply routes (notably at Sailor's Creek and Appomattox Station) encircled the starving Confederate army and cut off its escape.

What followed

Ended Lee's Army of Northern Virginia and effectively concluded the American Civil War in the East. Grant's lenient surrender terms set a tone of reconciliation for the war's end.