ett was through, Lincoln said the few words that America now knows so well, the Gettysburg Address. At the time Lincoln and most of the people who heard him speak at Gettysburg were disappointed. Little did they know how famous those words would become. On the western front things were looking bright. Ulysses S. Grant had been winning decisive victories. The day after the battle of Gettysburg, Grant had taken control of the last important Confederate stronghold on the Mississippi, Vicksburg. Early in 1864, Lincoln appointed Grant as the commander in chief of all Union armies. Together, Lincoln and Grant came up with a master plan to finally beat the Rebels. They planned to launch coordinate offensives against the Confederacy from all directions. In the East, Grant would attack Lee in Virginia, driving towards the rebel capital, Richmond. In the west General Sherman would go from Tennessee into Georgia, capturing Atlanta which was, at the time, a crucial railway center for the rebels. From there, Sherman would go towards Virginia, squeezing the Confederacy and eventually taking over their capital. Lincoln was hopeful. “Grant is the first general I have had. You know how it has been with all the rest. They wanted me to be the general. I am glad to find a man who can go ahead without me.” In May 1864 the offensive began. Grant marched down to Virginia but was met my Lee’s newly rebuilt army in a densely wooded area call the Wilderness. Grant fought three major battles near Richmond but still could not take the city. During Grant’s Wilderness ...
