American History Tellers - Civil War | Gettysburg | 5

Episode Date: August 24, 2022

In the summer of 1863, General Robert E. Lee made a daring bid for victory. He marched his army north to invade Pennsylvania. For three sweltering days, two massive armies locked in combat in the Battle of Gettysburg, the defining clash of the Civil War—and the conflict’s bloodiest. In the West, General Ulysses S. Grant emerges as the North’s most capable military leader as he drives his forces in the Siege of Vicksburg to turn the tide of the war.Listen ad free with Wondery+. Join Wondery+ for exclusives, binges, early access, and ad free listening. Available in the Wondery App. https://wondery.app.link/historytellersSupport us by supporting our sponsors!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wondery Plus subscribers can binge new seasons of American History Tellers early and ad-free right now. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts. Imagine it's late in the afternoon of May 1st, 1863, in Spotsylvania County, Virginia. You're a major general in the Union's Army of the Potomac, and second-in-command to General Joseph Hooker. After a fierce day of battle, you're walking through Hooker's headquarters in Chancellor House, a mansion at a remote crossroads known as Chancellorsville. Earlier today, you were sure your forces had the upper hand. But then, inexplicably, Hooker ordered all your troops to retreat back into a

defensive position around Chancellorsville, in an area locals call the Wilderness. It's a dense, overgrown forest, almost impossible to defend. You know it's not your place to question a superior officer, but you feel Hooker's strategy is jeopardizing the whole campaign. You must speak out. You find the general seated at a table in the parlor, pouring over maps. General Hooker, sir? Can you please help me understand why you called off the attack? We lost the advantage of an open field.

Hooker briefly glances at you before looking back down at his papers. Nonsense. We haven't lost any advantage. Our army is twice the size of Lee's. I'm confident those rebels will retreat rather than face us. And even if they risk an assault, they're going to have a hard time coordinating maneuvers through all this undergrowth. But our side faces the same problem, right? Fighting in the woods this dense will even the odds. How are we supposed to move our men through the forest? If we were still in the open, we could bring the odds. How are we supposed to move our men through the forest? If we were still in the open, we could bring the full weight of our numbers and arms against Lee's army. Hooker pushes his chair back from the table and crosses his arms.

No, I've got Lee just where I want him. He'll have to fight me on my own ground. All right, sir, but General, I fail to understand the advantage of fighting a defensive battle in a nest of thickets. Our armies did the attacking at Fredericksburg, and look how that turned out. Fiasco. Anyway, it's no matter. We have the numbers, the equipment, and the discipline to win. These ragged soldiers don't stand a chance. Well, sir, there's no doubt you've whipped this army into shape. But I do fear we've lost our best opportunity to strike first. Hooker cocks his chin and waves his arm toward the door. Well, that's the difference between you and me. I don't have anything to fear.

Now go back to your men, General. It's clear there's nothing more you can say. So you give Hooker a curt nod and walk out the door. But despite his outward bravado, something in Hooker's expression tells you that he knows his claims are hollow. You appreciate the General's confidence in his troops, but you've lost respect for him as a commander. As you leave Chancellor House, you worry that your army is doomed to suffer because of Hooker's lack of leadership. Now streaming. Welcome to Buy It Now, where aspiring entrepreneurs get 90 seconds to pitch to an audience of potential customers. If the audience liked the product, they'd pitch them in front of our panel of experts.

Gwyneth Paltrow. Anthony Anderson. Tabitha Brown. Tony Hawk. Oh, my God. Buy It Now. Stream free on Freebie and Prime Video. Have you ever wondered who created that bottle of sriracha that's living in your fridge?

Or why nearly every house in America has at least one game of Monopoly? Introducing The Best Idea Yet, a brand new podcast about the surprising origin stories of the products you're obsessed with. Listen to The Best Idea Yet on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. From Wondery, I'm Lindsey Graham, and this is American History Tellers. Our history. Your story. American History Tellers On May 1, 1863, Union General Joseph Hooker launched a massive assault on outnumbered Confederate forces near the Virginia crossroads of Chancellorsville. After hours of heavy fighting, Hooker shocked his subordinates when he ordered his forces to withdraw, pulling his men back into a defensive position in nearby woods. Hooker's fateful decision would give Confederate General Robert E. Lee an opening to rush his soldiers north into Pennsylvania, triggering the defining battle of the Civil War.

This is Episode 5, Gettysburg. In the winter of 1862-63, the Union war effort faced some of its darkest days. In December, General Ambrose Burnside suffered a disastrous defeat at Fredericksburg, Virginia. In its aftermath, morale plummeted and desertion spiked. Burnside's Army of the Potomac and the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia settled into camps facing each other on opposite sides of the icy Rappahannock River. In January, Burnside tried a second offensive, but torrential rains turned Virginia roads into swamps. Men and mules sank to their knees in what became known as the Mud March, and soon Union soldiers were deserting at a rate of 100 a day.

On January 25, President Abraham Lincoln relieved Burnside of his command. Lincoln was desperate to find a leader who could stand up to Confederate General Robert E. Lee, who was making gains with a smaller and more poorly equipped force. But his choice to replace Burnside came to many as a surprise. Major General Joseph Hooker was an aggressive officer known as Fighting Joe. He had a reputation for loose morals and hard living that made many colleagues question his promotion. General Joseph Hooker was an aggressive officer known as Fighting Joe. He had a reputation for loose morals and hard living that made many colleagues question his promotion. One army colonel described Hooker's headquarters as a combination of barroom and brothel, declaring

it a place to which no self-respecting man liked to go. But Hooker cared deeply about the well-being of his soldiers, and he proved to be a popular choice among the troops. He was a master organizer, and he quickly improved food, sanitation, and medical care in the camps. He boosted morale by granting furloughs, and he encouraged unit pride by creating insignia badges for each corps. Under Hooker's leadership, desertions and illnesses declined. One soldier wrote, General Hooker proved a veritable Santa Claus. And in March 1863, Lincoln visited the Army of the Potomac at their camp on the banks of the Rappahannock. Hooker proudly proclaimed his men the finest army on the planet, insisting that it was not a question of if he could capture the Confederate capital of Richmond,

simply a question of when. Lincoln was impressed by the condition of the army, but he feared that Hooker was overly cocky. He told the general, The hen is the wisest of all the animals, because she never cackles until the egg is laid. He also urged, In your next fight, put in all of your men. But following a string of Confederate victories, Robert E. Lee was feeling just as confident as Hooker.

In April 1863, he declared, If we can baffle them in their various designs this year, our success will be certain. Morale remained high in the Confederate ranks, despite the fact that food supplies were tight. In some places, soldiers had to forage sassafras buds and wild onions to fight scurvy. All the while, the two opposing armies were still locked in a standoff on opposite banks of the Rappahannock. As spring arrived and Virginia's roads became more passable, Hooker prepared to seize the initiative.

Rather than charge straight across the river, he devised a plan to trap Lee's army and crush them once and for all. He would divide his army into three parts. First, 10,000 cavalrymen would ride south and cut Lee's communication and supply lines. Next, Hooker's infantry would trap Lee's army in between two pincers. 40,000 Union soldiers would attack the Confederate defenses at Fredericksburg, while another 70,000 marched on Chancellorsville nine miles to the west. Speaking to his officers, Hooker boasted,

My plans are perfect, and when I start to carry them out, may God have mercy on General Lee, for I will have none. Hooker had good reason to be optimistic. His forces outnumbered the rebels by two to one. Lee had sent valuable regiments away on a mission to gather food and supplies, and the Army of Northern Virginia was left with just 60,000 soldiers compared to Hooker's 120,000. So on April 27, 1863, Hooker set his plan in motion. Within three days, 70,000 Union infantrymen were in position near the crossroads of Chancellorsville in the middle of a dense forest that the locals called the Wilderness. Another 40,000 were moving on Fredericksburg. Lee's army was in the grip of the pincer. Hooker congratulated his men, telling them, Our enemy must ingloriously flee or come out from behind his defenses and give us

battle on our own ground, where certain destruction awaits him. But Lee refused to retreat. He decided to meet the Union soldiers head on. On May 1st, Lee left just 10,000 men to defend Fredericksburg on the south bank of the Rappahannock. Guessing that the main threat was to the west at Chancellorsville, he marched the rest of his army there. The rebels clashed with Hooker's advance units at midday. Hooker had the edge in numbers, but instead of pressing the attack, he fell back into a defensive position around Chancellorsville. The strength of the Confederate resistance had unnerved him, and like his predecessors McClellan and Burnside, he ceded the initiative to Lee. Union officers were stunned by Hooker's decision to fall back. Years later, General Darius Couch wrote, I retired from Hooker's presence with the belief that my commanding general was a whipped

man. That night, Lee met with Lieutenant General Stonewall Jackson in the woods. Sitting on empty cracker boxes beside a campfire, the two generals planned their next move. They decided that Lee would take 15,000 men to Chancellorsville to distract Hooker's attention by feigning attacks. In the meantime, Jackson would send 30,000 rebels on a roundabout 12-mile trek through the wilderness to surprise Hooker with an attack on his exposed right flank. Hooker's hesitation had given them the chance. But Jackson knew the thorny, maze-like forest did present a problem. So one of his officers found a local resident to guide the troops on a narrow path used for hauling charcoal to nearby ironworks.

The next day, the men took the path through the woods. The tangled vines and briars tore their already ragged uniforms. But thanks to the secret, tree-covered trail, they approached the vulnerable Union right flank completely undetected. At 5 p.m. on May 2nd, Jackson's men burst out of the trees, screaming the rebel yell. They crushed Hooker's right flank, pushing the Bluecoats back two miles. Lee and Jackson's audacious gamble had paid off. But the attack came at a cost. During the assault, Jackson was mistakenly shot by his own men. His arm had to be amputated. Lee was crushed by the news, declaring, he lost his left arm, but I have lost my right arm. On the next day, May 3rd,

the fighting continued on two fronts, nine miles apart. It was some of the hardest and bloodiest fighting of the entire war. Casualties piled up on both sides. Wounded men were trapped by brush fire sparked by exploding shells. A cannonball hit Hooker's headquarters and knocked him unconscious for half an hour. With their leader incapacitated, Hooker's subordinates hoped to launch a counterattack, but before they could, the general awoke and ordered another withdrawal to a defensive line a mile away.

At mid-morning on May 3rd, the Confederates celebrated their success, but the festivities ended when Lee received word that Union forces were threatening his rear at Fredericksburg. The battle was not yet over. The next day, on May 4th, Confederates counterattacked at Fredericksburg, forcing Union troops back across the Rappahannock River. When Hooker heard the news, he was convinced he was out of options. At midnight, he convened a council of war.

The majority of the Union commanders voted to continue the fight, but Hooker had already decided he wanted to retreat. The following afternoon, a violent storm struck Chancellorsville as the Union troops withdrew, staggering back across the swollen Rappahannock River. The Confederate Army paid a high price for its victory. Nearly 13,000 rebels were killed, wounded, or missing in battle, more than a fifth of Lee's entire army. Worst of all, on May 10th, Stonewall Jackson died of pneumonia. But Lee had secured his greatest and

most improbable triumph. Meanwhile, Hooker's men were despondent about their defeat. They knew the battle should have been an easy Union victory. But though Hooker had begun the battle aggressively, once he actually faced Lee, he lost his nerve. When Lincoln heard the news, his face turned ashen. He cried out, my God, what will the country say? The loss sent shockwaves across the North, and morale plummeted. Lee was thrilled by his victory. Feeling that his soldiers were invincible, he decided to invade the North for a second time.

It would be Lee's boldest move yet, one that he hoped would deliver a final blow to the Union side. Imagine it's May 15, 1863, in Richmond, Virginia. You're a Confederate cabinet secretary, and you're meeting with Jefferson Davis, General Robert E. Lee, and the rest of the cabinet in the Confederate Executive Office Building. Lee is fresh off his victory at Chancellorsville, and he's joined you here for a strategy council. You're debating whether to send more troops out west,

where a Union general named Ulysses S. Grant has been closing in on a critical fortress on the Mississippi. General Lee, my congratulations on your victory. You beat an army twice as large as ours. Standing at the front of the room, Lee gives you a solemn nod and casts his gaze down. It was dearly bought. I lost 13,000 men. My forces are more outnumbered than ever now.

I know there's talk of troop transfers to the west, but I won't have my army dissected. I'd like to share an idea I've been contemplating these last few months. The room sits in rapt silence as Lee paces back and forth, a cold glint of determination in his eyes. I want to lead my army north on an offensive operation across the Potomac. I'm tired of having my men act defensively. Gentlemen, I believe the time has come for the Army of Northern Virginia to invade the United States.

General, we appreciate your boldness, but your idea strikes me as reckless. No, not at all. The Army has run out of supplies in Virginia, and the forge will be better in Pennsylvania. But more importantly, a Union defeat on its home soil could end the war, decisively. The other members of the cabinet nod in agreement. The room is awed by Lee's vision, but you feel you must speak up. That might be true, General. But what about the fighting in the West? We need to hold on to the Mississippi. I believe the preservation of our stronghold at Vicksburg should have top priority. The situation has become critical. We need to get reinforcements onto trains as soon as possible if we have any hope of tipping the scales.

But Lee just gives a small shrug, completely unfazed by your doubts. Even if Vicksburg is lost, a win in Pennsylvania will end the war. And I have full confidence we will win. My army has proven it's unbeatable. Time and again we have emerged victorious against greater numbers and greater resources. Those men will end this war. You look across the table at President Davis. He's nodding fiercely, his jaw set in an expression of grim resolve. It's clear that you're the sole dissenter and that Lee's prestige is carrying

the day. But you have a terrible feeling that the general is making a fatal mistake. On May 15, 1863, Lee took his plans for a northern invasion to the Confederate cabinet. The cabinet was dazzled by Lee's vision of crushing the Yankees in their own territory. The only dissenter was Confederate Postmaster General John Reagan. Lee wanted to take the fighting out of war-ravaged Virginia, replenishing his soldiers with food plucked from Pennsylvania's farmlands. He believed a victory would sway northern boaters and undermine Lincoln's chances for re-election, and he hoped it could even lead Britain and France to support Confederate independence. So in June, Lee led 75,000 men in a northward journey through Virginia toward Pennsylvania and across Union lines. His outnumbered army had won hard-fought battles, but they would face their greatest tests yet in Lee's bid for a decisive victory.

With this daring strike, he was confident that Confederate independence was finally within reach. In November 1991, media tycoon Robert Maxwell mysteriously vanished from his luxury yacht in the Canary Islands. But it wasn't just his body that would come to the surface in the days that followed. It soon emerged that Robert's business was on the brink of collapse, and behind his facade of wealth and success was a litany of bad investments, mounting debt, and multi-million dollar fraud. Hi, I'm Lindsey Graham, the host of Wondery Show Business Movers. We tell the true stories of business leaders who risked it all, the critical moments that define their journey,

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I'm Tristan Redman, and as a journalist, I've never believed in ghosts. But when I discovered that my wife's great-grandmother was murdered in the house next door to where I grew up, I started wondering about the inexplicable things that happened in my childhood bedroom. When I tried to find out more, I discovered that someone who slept in my room after me, someone I'd never met, was visited by the ghost of a faceless woman. So I started digging into the murder in my wife's family, and I unearthed family secrets nobody could have imagined. Ghost Story won Best Documentary Podcast at the 2024 Ambies and is a Best True Crime nominee at the British Podcast Awards 2024. Ghost Story is now the first ever Apple Podcast Series Essential.

Each month, Apple Podcast editors spotlight one series that has captivated listeners with masterful storytelling, creative excellence, and a unique creative voice and vision. To recognize Ghost Story being chosen as the first series essential, Wondery has made it ad-free for a limited time, only on Apple Podcasts. If you haven't listened yet, head over to Apple Podcasts to hear for yourself. In June 1863, Abraham Lincoln once again found himself doubting his army commander. General Joseph Hooker was slow to react to Lee's northward march towards Pennsylvania, which had set off panic across the Union. Hooker moved his army north, but he was still reeling from his humiliating defeat at Chancellorsville and was reluctant to launch a direct attack.

Lincoln worried that Hooker did not have the ability to lead complex military operations. Fearing he had another McClellan on his hands, Lincoln relieved Hooker of his command. At 2 a.m. on June 28, General George Meade was sound asleep in his tent when a messenger woke him up with an order to take over the Army of the Potomac. He was the Army's fourth commanding general in less than a year. Though Meade was well respected among his fellow officers, he was largely unknown to the rank and file, and his appointment had little effect on morale. The hardened soldiers in the Army of the Potomac had fought under a string of unreliable generals. They had learned to fend for themselves, and they felt indifferent about the choice of their new commander. When Meade took over, the Army of the Potomac was centered around Frederick, Maryland.

He quickly ordered his army to head north toward Pennsylvania to catch Lee's advance. Civilians cheered as more than 90,000 bluecoats set out to pursue Lee, who had already started marching his 75,000-man army into Pennsylvania. His soldiers stripped farms of food, clothing, and supplies along the way, and they terrorized free black civilians, kidnapping dozens of them and sending them south into slavery. And as the rebels moved further through southern Pennsylvania, one of Lee's lieutenants heard a rumor that army supplies could be found in a prosperous crossroads village called Gettysburg. On July 1, on a hot summer morning, a division of Confederate soldiers marched into Gettysburg to raid the town.

But as they approached, they came upon two Union cavalry brigades that had arrived in Gettysburg the previous day. Neither side had intended to start a battle in Gettysburg. Nor were Lee or Meade present, but the chance meeting set off the biggest and most important battle of the Civil War. The Union cavalry held the Confederates off while waiting for the arrival of backup infantry. After a few hours, reinforcements appeared and the fighting escalated. Confederate reinforcements also rushed to the scene, and by the early afternoon of July 1, 24,000 rebels were fighting 19,000 Union soldiers along a three-mile semicircle

to the north and west of Gettysburg. Soldiers sweated through their wool coats as they fought ferociously in blistering heat. Finally, the rebels pushed the outnumbered Union troops back through Gettysburg. The Union forces regrouped on Cemetery Hill, high ground south of the town, where they had artillery waiting. But by that point, General Lee had reached the scene. He was determined to attack Cemetery Hill and end the battle before the rest of the Army of the Potomac reached Gettysburg. It was a race against time, so Lee ordered Lieutenant General Richard Ewell

to attack Cemetery Hill if practicable. It was an ambiguous order, and Ewell decided against an attack. Ewell had taken over Stonewall Jackson's command, but he lacked Jackson's aggressiveness. Ewell's hesitation gave the Union a chance to strengthen their position. During the night, more Union forces arrived, along with their top commander, General Meade. By dawn of July 2nd, the Union troops were spread out in a long, defensive formation along the ridges and hills to the south of town. The Army of Northern Virginia established a parallel line a mile to the west.

Standing on a high ridge that morning, Confederate Second-in-Command James Longstreet examined the Union line through his field glasses. He urged Lee to leave the Union forces alone, insisting their position was too strong. But Lee's faith in his men was unshakable. He ignored Longstreet's advice and ordered an attack. Longstreet agreed to carry out the order, but delayed, hoping Confederate cavalry would arrive in time to support the assault. That delay would prove to be a fatal mistake. It worked to Meade's advantage, giving Union reinforcements time to reach Gettysburg instead. As Longstreet slowly assembled his men into position that afternoon,

Meade sent a brigadier general named Gouverneur K. Warren to a high, rocky hill known as Little Round Top. Little Round Top anchored the extreme left flank of the Union formation and was key to the battle. Meade knew that if Confederate forces took that hill, it would threaten the entire Union line. He would have to make sure it had enough troops to protect it. But when Warren arrived, he was stunned to find Little Round Top almost completely undefended.

The commander responsible for holding the hill had dissipate orders and abandoned his position. Warren knew it was a disaster in the making, especially when he saw the gleam of approaching Confederate bayonets. He dashed off orders for troops to come and defend the hill. He was desperate to find enough men to save the strategic high ground from the rebel assault. Imagine it's the late afternoon of July 2nd, 1863, in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. You're a colonel commanding the 140th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment, made up of Irish and German recruits from Rochester. You're just north of Little Round Top, leading your men west down a dusty road in the direction of a wheat field

you've been ordered to reinforce. You can see the boulder-strewn slopes of Little Round Top, leading your men west down a dusty road in the direction of a wheat field you've been ordered to reinforce. You can see the boulder-strewn slopes of Little Round Top on your left. Your men are exhausted from marching miles in the heat, and you're trying to keep spirits up. Steady on, boys. We're nearly at the front lines, and those rebels will quake in their boots when they see us coming. You know it. You're about to swing your horse around the line to rally more troops, but out of nowhere, another officer on horseback gallops down the hill, racing towards you. You recognize him as Brigadier General Warren. You steady your own horse as he approaches. General Warren, what's the matter?

You and your men must follow me up to Little Round Top. Our left flank is on the verge of being overrun. Little Round Top? I have orders to take my regiment to the wheat field. Our left flank is on the verge of being overrun. Little Round Top? I have orders to take my regiment to the wheat field. Damn your orders. Little Round Top is the key to our position. If it falls, the rebels will be able to place a cannon on the hilltop. Our entire army will be sitting ducks. You must divert your troops immediately. You look at your weary soldiers and turn back to Warren. You've never seen him so frantic.

You're asking me to disobey orders from my direct superior. I know what I'm asking. But every passing second makes it all the more likely that the rebels will take that hill. The gravity of the decision weighs on you. You know his request could land you in trouble, but you don't have time to deliberate. General, lead the way.

My men are yours. You turn your horse to address your troops. Change of plan, boys. We're heading up to Little Round Top. There's no time to waste, so let's go. You raise your sword high in the air as you urge your tired horse up Little Round Top. Your men scramble up the hill in your wake. As you duck down at the sound of cannon fire, you realize that Warren was right. Rebels are fast approaching up the other side of the hill. You and your men have entered the fray. On the afternoon of July 2nd, Union soldiers defending Little Round Top feared their position was on the verge of collapse. Then Colonel Patrick

O'Rourke led the 140th New York Regiment up the hill to help beleaguered troops hold the Union line. When they reached the hill crest, O'Rourke leapt from his horse and yelled, Down this way, boys! As he ran down the slope in the direction of the enemy, he was shot in the neck and killed by a Confederate bullet. His men surged past his body and blunted the rebel advance. But the 140th wasn't the only Union regiment that saved Little Round Top. As O'Rourke's men charged, the 20th Maine defended the extreme left-hand edge of the Union line on another side of the hill. Their commander was Colonel Joshua Chamberlain, a 34-year-old language professor who left Bowdoin College to volunteer for the Union Army. But Chamberlain and

his men were fast running out of ammunition after repelling several Confederate advances. As two Alabama regiments renewed their attacks, Chamberlain did something unexpected. He cried out bayonets, and his men fixed blades to their empty rifles and boldly charged down the hill. The tired rebels were stunned by the audacity of Chamberlain's bayonet charge. Four hundred men surrendered, and Little Round Top was saved. But as the battle raged on Little Round Top, some of the war's bloodiest fighting erupted nearby. Thousands of blue- and gray-clad men exchanged deadly blows in a wheat field, a peach orchard, and a boulder-covered hill called Devil's Den.

By nightfall, the Confederates had gained ground on both the right and left flanks of the Union line, but their assaults were disjointed and poorly timed, and the Union soldiers held on. Each army suffered 9,000 casualties on that day alone, bringing the two-day total to 35,000 killed, wounded, or captured. But Lee resolved to keep pressing the attack. The next day, July 3rd, he ordered an assault on a place called Cemetery Ridge, right in the heart of the Union line.

At 3 p.m., more than 12,000 men in nine infantry brigades emerged out of the woods. They charged side by side across three-quarters of a mile of open field, advancing toward the Union line. Brigadier General George E. Pickett commanded three of the brigades, and the assault would later be known as Pickett's Charge. It was the climax of Lee's northern invasion, and was a spectacle that awed all who witnessed it. A Union soldier declared, every eye could see the enemy's legion, an overwhelming tide of armed men sweeping upon us. But as the Confederates crossed the field, the Union forces opened fire. The rebels were soon enveloped by thick clouds of

smoke and the deafening roar of Union rifles and cannon. The impact was devastating. One Union soldier later remembered, arms, heads, blankets, guns, and knapsacks were thrown and tossed into the clear air. A moan went up from the field, distinctly to be heard amid the storm of battle. Pickett's charge ended in a bloodbath. After less than an hour of fighting, 6,000 Confederate men lay dead or wounded, roughly half of the attacking force. Only one Confederate brigade had managed to reach the top of the ridge before being driven back by Union soldiers firing at close range. A stunned Lee told a general, this has all been my fault, and the next

day he withdrew his battered soldiers back toward Virginia. Lee's failed invasion exacted a staggering human cost. Over the course of three days, more than 51,000 men were killed, wounded, captured, or missing. Gettysburg was the bloodiest battle of the entire war. Lee lost 28,000 soldiers, one-third of his army. Meade lost 23,000. Despondent over his failure, Lee offered his resignation to Jefferson Davis, but the Confederate president refused. Meanwhile, as President Lincoln received word of the victory, he also learned that Confederate Vice President Alexander Stevens had arrived behind Union lines with a flag of truce. Stevens hoped to negotiate peace, but Lincoln denied the request. Northerners were exhilarated by the victory. Gettysburg was a much-needed morale boost and a turning point in

the Union effort. Never again would Lee mount such a massive offensive. But the clash in Pennsylvania was not the only turning point in the war that summer. A thousand miles to the west, at a southern city called Vicksburg, a long, hard-fought battle over control of the Mississippi River would deal the Confederacy another crushing blow. Dracula, the ancient vampire who terrorizes Victorian London. Blood and garlic, bats and crucifixes, even if you haven't read the book, you think you know the story. One of the incredible things about Dracula is that not only is it this wonderful snapshot of the 19th century, but it also has so much resonance today. The vampire doesn't cast a reflection in a mirror. So when we look in the

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But in the war's Western theater, he found a commander he could count on, Ulysses S. Grant. Grant had been a mediocre student at West Point. After serving in the Mexican-American War, he was stationed at secluded frontier outposts where boredom and isolation drove him to drink. In 1854, he resigned from the Army to avoid a court-martial for drunkenness. When the Civil War broke out, he was working as a clerk at his father's store in Illinois. But he jumped at the chance to return to military service by volunteering for the Union Army. Because of his experience, Grant quickly rose through the ranks. In July 1861, he was promoted to Brigadier General and given command of troops in Missouri.

Seven months later, in Tennessee, he captured Fort Henry and Fort Donelson, Confederate garrisons that guarded the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers. Grant told the rebel commander at Fort Donelson, no terms except unconditional and immediate surrender can be accepted. The quote earned U.S. Grant the nickname Unconditional Surrender Grant and catapulted him into the national spotlight. But Grant's reputation for drinking and his aggressive tactics on the battlefield made him a subject of controversy. After one especially bloody battle, in which he lost 13,000 men, many Northerners urged Lincoln to remove Grant from his command. But Lincoln refused, declaring, I can't spare this man. He fights. Lincoln and Jefferson Davis both knew that the outcome of the war could hinge on the control of the Mississippi

River, a lifeline for rebel supplies and communication. And control of the Mississippi hinged on the fortress city of Vicksburg. Vicksburg lay on the east bank of the river in the state of Mississippi, across from Louisiana. It was the last major Confederate stronghold on the river. Davis called Vicksburg the nailhead that holds the South's two halves together. If the Union captured the fortress city, it would split the Confederacy in two, isolating Louisiana, Texas, and Arkansas from the rest of the South and depriving rebel armies of their manpower and resources. By the fall of 1862, Grant was commanding the Army of the Tennessee.

He resolved to capture Vicksburg and break the South's grip on the Mississippi. It would be no easy task. Vicksburg was perched on steep and heavily fortified bluffs 200 feet above the river. Impenetrable swamps protected the city from the north and south. To attack it, Grant would need to get his men and supplies to the high ground on the more vulnerable eastern side. In December 1862, Grant had attempted to take Vicksburg with a two-prong assault from the north, with 30,000 men sailing downriver on barges and another 40,000 marching along the Mississippi Central Railroad. But the attack ended in disaster. His men were crippled by broken supply lines and fierce Confederate fighting. Still, Grant's resolve did not waver.

In January of 1863, he tried a new approach. He decided to bypass Vicksburg altogether by constructing a mile-and-a-half-long canal at DeSoto Point, a peninsula opposite the fortress in Louisiana. He hoped that by creating this new channel, he could move his boats and man below Vicksburg without coming under fire from the Confederate fortress's batteries. But digging the canal would prove to be almost as challenging as attacking Vicksburg itself. Imagine it's late January, 1863, on a muddy bank of the Mississippi River near Vicksburg. You and your fellow soldier Thomas have been toiling away for hours under orders from General Grant to dig a canal. You slip and slide in the muck as you

struggle with your spade, sputtering with a cough you just can't shake. Thomas drops his spade and wipes his eyes. How are we supposed to get this damn canal done? Every day the rain washes out any progress. I've had enough of these 12-hour shifts. It's madness. We're all exhausted. But they say it's the only way we have any chance of taking the fortress, finally controlling the river. Thomas's shoe sinks into the mud. He gives his leg a furious yank and frees it. That's if there's any soldiers left to do the taking. Feels like half the regiment is sick. I'm sure once winter's over, things will get better. It's not going to get better for him. For who? Him. Thomas

points at the riverbank just below you. There, poking up through the mud, is a dead man's arm, its fingers curled as if it's clawing its way out of the ground. Oh, God almighty. The rain's washing everything away. Working here in such primitive conditions, your regiment has been forced to bury fallen comrades in shallow graves. Now the rain is bringing them back up to the surface. You shake your head in disgust, fighting a wave of nausea. Maybe you're right, Thomas.

Maybe this is madness. We deserve better than a rot in some southern swamp like this. Yeah, but what are we going to do? Thomas shrugs as he grabs his shovel and begins pouring mud over the exposed corpse. You wipe sweat off your brow, but only manage to smear mud on your face. You stare down for a moment, and when the arm is covered, you look up at Vicksburg, perched atop 200-foot bluffs in the distance. From down here in the muck, the well-fortified city looks invincible.

You've tried to keep your head down and follow orders, but you're reaching a breaking point. You're starting to doubt that Grant will ever find a way to capture Vicksburg and finally wrest control of the Mississippi away from the rebels. In early 1863, Grant tried to carve a channel to bypass Vicksburg, but his men were plagued by constant driving rains that washed away their efforts. Disease ran rampant through the waterlogged camps, and hundreds of soldiers and black laborers died. In March, Grant finally abandoned the project. Northern newspapers attacked Grant for his slow progress.

Rumors spread that he had taken up drinking again. But Lincoln refused to give up on Grant, declaring, I want generals who will fight battles and win victories. Grant has done this, and I propose to stand by him. Then, finally, in April of 1863, Grant came up with a daring solution. He would move his men down the river's west bank. Then he would send a fleet of Navy gunboats down river, racing past Vicksburg's batteries. The gunboats would pick up the soldiers and ferry

them across the river south of the fortress city. Grant's subordinates opposed the plan, but Grant insisted that victory required risk. On the night of April 16th, Vicksburg was staging a grand ball to celebrate the apparent defeat of Grant's army. But the dancing was interrupted by the sound of cannons on the river. Union gunboats and steamboats were rushing past the Confederate batteries. Rebels hammered the boats, but only one vessel was lost. Grant's plan worked. By the end of April, the boats had safely ferried Union troops to the east bank of the Mississippi, 40 miles below Vicksburg.

But rather than attack Vicksburg immediately, Grant launched a rapid march east. He wanted to throw the rebels off and scatter their forces. On May 14th, his army captured a key railroad junction at Jackson, Mississippi. The fall of Jackson cut Vicksburg off from supplies and reinforcements. Next, Grant marched his troops back west, thwarting Confederate attacks along the way. By May 22nd, they had driven the rebels back to Vicksburg and laid siege to the city, pounding it with shells and cutting off supplies. Confederate civilians and soldiers were forced into caves and storm cellars, eating rats and mules to survive.

After six agonizing weeks, the starving Confederates surrendered on July 4th. Grant's soldiers celebrated Independence Day by raising the stars and stripes over the fortress. During the siege, the Union suffered 4,000 casualties. The Confederates lost 35,000. The hard-won victory cemented Grant's reputation as the Union's premier commander. The next day, Lincoln declared, Grant is my man, and I am his for the rest of the war. A few days later, Union soldiers conquered the last southern fort on the river at Port Hudson, Louisiana. The Union had won the Mississippi, and the Confederacy was split in two. Coming one day after another, the twin victories at Gettysburg and Vicksburg electrified the North. Lincoln

hoped victory was finally in his grasp. He wrote, Now, if General Meade can complete his work, the rebellion will be over. But on July 12th, Lincoln learned that Meade had failed to pursue Lee after his retreat from Gettysburg. Lincoln was furious. Meade's missed opportunity to force a Confederate surrender meant that the war would rage on. But Gettysburg and Vicksburg had turned the tide of the conflict. In the months that followed, Lincoln and his commanders would begin to make plans to finish the war. But defeat on the battlefields was not enough. Soon, Union armies would do whatever it took to shatter the will of the Southern people and force nothing less than unconditional surrender. From Wondery, this is Episode 5 of The Civil War from American

History Tellers. On the next episode, Ulysses S. Grant lays out a strategy to crush the South, Democrat George McClellan challenges Lincoln for the presidency, and William Tecumseh Sherman carves a path of wreckage through the Georgia heartland. If you like American History Tellers, you can binge all episodes early and ad-free right now by joining Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts. Prime members can listen ad-free on Amazon Music. And before you go, tell us about yourself by filling out a short survey at wondery.com slash survey. American History Tellers is hosted, edited, and produced by me, Lindsey Graham for Airship.

Audio editing by Molly Bach. Sound design by Derek Behrens. Music by Lindsey Graham. This episode is written by Ellie Stanton, edited by Dorian Marina. Our managing producer is Tanja Thigpen. Our coordinating producer is Matt Gant. Our senior producer is Andy Herman. Executive producers are Jenny Lauer-Beckman and Marshall Louis for Wondery. How did Birkenstocks go from a German cobbler's passion project 250 years ago to the Barbie movie today? Who created that bottle of red Sriracha with a green top that's permanently living in your fridge?

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