early in the war, confederate generals such as robert e. lee and stonewall jackson won battles over union generals such as george b. mcclellan and ambrose burnside. in 1862 and 1863, the union army tried to take the confederate capital of richmond, virginia several times, but failed each time. lee's army invaded the north twice, but was turned back at antietam and gettysburg. in the middle of war, lincoln made the emancipation proclamation, which freed all slaves in the confederacy, and started letting black men fight in the union army. the war started going the union’s way after the battles of gettysburg and vicksburg in 1863. gettysburg stopped lee from invading the north, and vicksburg gave the union control over the mississippi river. in 1864, a union army under william t. sherman marched through georgia and destroyed much of it. by 1865, union general ulysses s. grant had taken richmond and forced lee to give up the fight at appomattox.