1. Control of the Mississippi River Western Battles!!

2. Why did the Union pursue this strategy? Cut off the eastern Confederacy from sources of food production Using bases on the Mississippi the Union could attack communication and transportation networks

3. Fort Henry and Donelson February 1862 Grant’s Army of the Tennessee were victorious

4. Battle of Shiloh

5. At the Battle of Shiloh in Mississippi in April of 1862, Grant, probably in a drunken state, was surprised by an early morning CSA attack lead by Johnston.

6. The casualties were immense as each side lost ¼ of their armies! The battle raged on despite dark thunderclouds rolling in, and the Union suffered 13,000 casualties to the Confederate 11,000! Hornets Nest was a sunken road that was the center of much of the bloody battle and the loss of Union lives when they were surrounded by the Confederates. The next day Union re-enforcements will arrive and be able to remove the Confederates from their position

7. More soldiers died in this battle than both the Revolution and the Mexican Wars combined. The CSA commander, Joseph Johnston was killed.

9. As night fell, and a terrific storm ensued, the fighting stopped. Both sides looked down on the battlefield from their camps and watched as the lightning sporadically lit up twenty thousand dead bodies.

10. Impact Both sides were demoralized. –Newspapers claim this as a Confederate victory although they themselves had retreated. –Union Army gained greater control of the Mississippi River Valley Grant is suspended, but Lincoln is reluctant to fire him.

12. http://www.civilwar.org/battlefiel ds/shiloh/maps/battle-of-shiloh- animated.html

13. The Fall of New Orleans Grant was going to battle his way south while the Union Navy would battle their way north. New Orleans was the largest city in the Confederacy and the gateway to the Mississippi River

14. Admiral David Farragut commanded –18 ships –700 men April 24, 1862 2 Forts guarded the entrance to the river –Unable to be destroyed from the water –Plan: Race past them Disguised the ships in chains, mud and branches too look like islands and made the run at night City fell to Farragut on April 29

15. Farragut will then continue his advance up the Mississippi River capturing –Baton Rouge, Louisiana –Natchez, Mississippi

16. Siege of Vicksburg Farragut ordered surrender of strategic Vicksburg, Mississippi, in May 1863. Location on 200-foot-high cliffs above the Mississippi made invasion nearly impossible. Grant decided to starve the city into surrender; began Siege of Vicksburg in mid-May. Facing starvation, city surrendered on July 4th, 1863.

18. Confederates in the West following Vicksburg! Small group of Confederates will continue to annoy the Union army forcing then to keep a significant force in the field in the west.