text: [Themes: edutainment, serious]
  
  Deciding that losing Shiloh would be too big of a blow for the Union army to take, Grant pushes back at the Confederate army, eventually winning out with numbers and troop positioning.
  
  The victory is bittersweet. By the end of the battle, 23,000 troops lie dead in Shiloh, 10,000 of them Union soldiers, the rest Confederate. The losses are great in the bloodiest battle of the war thus far (more lie dead than in all previous American wars combined), but it pays off. The Union is able to keep Shiloh, as well as their three forts in the Midwest.
  
  Meanwhile, back on the eastern front, the Confederates make another strike at Bull's Run in Virginia. Led by Confederate General Stonewall Jackson, the army which measures 55,000 strong are able to defeat the Union army which has 20,000 more soldiers, causing the army to retreat back to the capitol once more.
  
  Seeing their chance, General Robert E. Lee takes his separate Confederate force and heads north for Harper's Ferry, located only 50 miles northwest of Washington. Understanding the importance of not letting Lee reach the capitol, the Union army of 90,000 under the command of McClellan pursues them.
  
  On September 17th, 1862, the Union forces catch up with Lee's Confederate troops in Antietam, Maryland. What follows is one of the bloodiest battles in U.S. history - by the end of the night, a combined tally of men from both sides determined that nearly 23,000 men lied dead. In the end, however, McClellan and the Union troops manage to win the day, but once again at a very high cost.
  
  "It is well that war is so terrible...we should grow too fond of it." - Robert E. Lee
  
  Following this victory, Lincoln has decided that the time for negotiable peace has passed. If there was any chance at a "peaceful" resolution, it would not present itself until one side had nearly depleted the others, both of resources and troops. Just a few days after the offensive at Antietam, Lincoln issues the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, freeing all slaves in Union-held states only. The number of slaves in Union territories did not come close to the amount in the Confederacy, but regardless, this gives many blacks a new vigor, and enlistment into the Union army increases drastically.
  
  After the hard-won victory at Antietam, General McClellan was hesitant to go on the offensive into Virginia in order to pursue the Confederates and possibly win the war. Both Lincoln and General Grant, however, were certain that taking the battle into the Confederacy was the right move. McClellan still refused and Lincoln, incensed by his lack of offensive spirit, considered replacing him with someone more inclined to attacking.
  
  Considered as a replacement for McClellan was a Union General by the name of Ambrose Burnside, who was more than willing to take the fight into Richmond, Virginia, as opposed to hanging back for defense. Lincoln weighed his options. McClellan was by no means a bad General, Lincoln decided, but he seems to be too hesitant to take action where it is needed, and that is not a good trait to have if they were to win this war. Still, McClellan had led them to many victories in the past, and it may be wrong to relieve him of command after the dedication he had shown.
  
  On the other hand, General Burnside would take a much more sensible approach to the war, Lincoln decided. It may not always seem favorable, but the reality of war is that it usually ends when one side destroys the other, and Lincoln was not willing to hang back and let it be the Union that fell first. If Burnside was put into McClellan's command, he had a plan to take an offensive force into Richmond.
  
  > replace McClellan with Burnside
  "If you don't want to use the army, I should like to borrow it for a while." - Lincoln to McClellan upon his reassignment
  
  Explaining that McClellan's reassignment was not for lack of success, but rather for lack of action, Lincoln places General Burnside in charge of the Army of the Potomac. Willing to take action, Burnside immediately sets off with his new army towards Richmond, following on their bittersweet success at Antietam.
  
  The Confederate army strikes back at Fredricksburg, Virginia, in what turns out to be one of the most one-sided battles of the entire war. The Confederate troops cause the Union army a total of 12,700 casualties, to the Confederates 5,400. The newly-appointed General Burnside retreats back towards Maryland, already looking for a way to prove that he was worthy of his new command.
  
  He did not get the chance, however, as Lincoln gives away the position of commander yet again, this time to General Joseph "Fighting Joe" Hooker.
  
  In the meantime, Lincoln issues the final version of the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing all slaves in Confederate states. As even more former slaves join the Union army, it is made clear that the war to preserve the Union has now turned into a war fighting for (or against) the abolition of slavery.
  
  The Union army, with its new recruits, was more than twice as large as the entire Confederate army, giving a bolster of hope to the North, even following their recent defeat. Following Hooker's new command, an assault is launched on Chancellorsville, Virginia where, to the Union's chagrin and the Confederacy's surprise, General Lee defeats the much larger Union army with his small Confederate force, using spectacular tactics and strategic maneuvering.
  
  This battle does not go without loss for the Confederate army, however, as one of their
  
  most respected leaders, General Stonewall Jackson, is mortally wounded, dying in the battle. The Confederacy grieves the loss of one of their greatest strategists.
  
  "I have lost my right arm." - Robert E. Lee after General Jackson's death
  
  As was per tradition, Lincoln once again gave away the position of commander of the Potomac army, this time to General George G. Meade. The Confederate army, meanwhile, was nearing the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, not intending to do battle, but instead search the town for shoes. Upon arriving, a confederate commander spotted a troop of Union soldiers coming towards the small, rural town. He quickly rushed back to his superior, General George Henry Heth, who soon rushed 25,000 Confederate soldiers to the town to combat the Union's 20,000.
  
  What started as a trip to acquire footwear turned into one of the most bloody battles in history. In total, by the end of the three days of brutal fighting, strategizing, and maneuvering, 51,000 soldiers from each side lay dead in the fields. It was also the first time that there was a civilian casualty in the entire war thus far. In the end, however, the Union army climbed out on top of the carnage, driving the Confederate soldiers back southward.
  
  This victory, coupled with General Grant's victory at Vicksburg along the Mississippi River, effectively split the Confederate army into two pieces: the west was cut off from the south, thanks to the combined prowess of Generals Grant and Meade.
  
  > A New Commander
  "I have never advocated war except as a means of peace." - General Ulysses S. Grant, from his Personal Memoirs, 1886
  
  As the war raged on two separate fronts, west and south, multiple commanders were needed to effectively manage
  each sides' campaign against the other. Union General William Rosecrans and his army were besieged in and around Chattanooga in Tennessee by a stronger Confederate army. If he was not relieved soon, all of the momentum the Union army had gained earlier in the year was in danger of being lost, as from Chattanooga the Confederates could march through Virginia up to the capital.
  
  Lincoln put Grant, now in command of all armies in the western theater, on the task of providing aid to General Rosecrans. With General Grant's leadership, the Union was able to storm the Confederate's fortifications at Chattanooga, and in response, Lincoln appointed Grant to control all of the armies in the United States.
  
  Meanwhile, as the year of 1864 draws to a close, Lincoln is reelected as President of the United States, overcoming his former general, George McClellan, by a landslide. Lincoln is able to win 22 states in opposition to McClellan's measly three.
  
  General Grant, with his army of Union soldiers now 120,000 strong, marches south towards Richmond on May 8th, 1864, with the end of the war beginning to appear in their sights. On the bloody path to the Confederate capital, many battles were fought in order to inch ever closer to the heart of the Confederacy. Eventually, however, Grant and his army made their way to within a few of Cold Harbor. Once again using his military prowess, General Lee constructed a seven-mile barricade along the fields, blocking the Union army's advance. Although Grant's army still proved stronger and larger than Lee's, this blockade was easily one of the most daunting maneuvers in the war, making even the battle-hardened soldiers quiver in their boots.
  
  General Grant saw two viable options for dealing with this blockade. The first was to spread out his larger force along the barricades, picking off the Confederate soldiers forming them slowly. However, even with their superior numbers, the Confederate troops were nearly just as likely to be able to pick the Union troops off if they were spread too thin. Also, this approach would cost them valuable time, which, with the casualties in this war reaching the hundred-thousands, was not something they could afford to give freely.
  
  The second option was about as safe as marching into hell with no shoes on - the full brunt of Lee's forces could smash the lines of Confederate soldiers directly. While this option was risky, it would safe them time from having to spread along the seven mile radius, and there might even be a chance to dissolve the fortifications of soldiers entirely, that is, if the hole they punched through was big enough.
  
  General Grant sat in his tent weighing his options, sweat running down his brow. Outside, he heard almost no chatter from his soldiers: many were praying that the night would not be their last. Thousands of lives rested on Grant's decision. Whatever decision he made would have sacrifices, but he had to choose the one which had the least. This was the gritty reality of war.
  
  > spread forces along the barricade and chip away at them
  General Grant decides to spread his forces out as opposed to taking on the Confederate blockade head-on. If it was done correctly, Grant decided, more lives could be spared.
  
  It turns out, however, that Grant's immediate hesitation at this decision was rightly felt, as the Confederate sharpshooters set up along the line of infantry pick off the thinly-veiled Union army soldiers one by one. The Union soldiers never come close to breaking the barricade, and are forced to fall back after taking thousands of casualties.
  
  The Union is unable to stop the Confederates advance through Virginia and up to Washington D.C. The Union army fights a hard fight, but are unsuccessful in fending off the Confederate invaders. D.C. is captured by the slave-states, the White House raided and Lincoln's presidency quickly demolished. All previously free African Americans are auctioned off as slaves, and the Union surrenders shortly after, having only a fraction of an army left to fight with.
  
  I pledge allegiance to the flag of the Confederate States of America.
  
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