0:00

You're listening to an Airwave

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Media Podcast. I'm

0:05

Mo Raka, and I'm excited to

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announce Season 4 of my podcast,

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Mobituaries. I've got a whole new

0:11

bunch of stories to share with

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you about the most fascinating

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people and things who are

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no longer with us. From famous

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figures who died on the very

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same day, to the things I

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wish would die, like buffets,

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all that and much more. Listen

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to Mobituaries with Mo Raka wherever

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you get your podcasts. Hey

0:57

everyone, welcome to episode number

1:00

443 of our

1:02

Civil War

1:06

podcast. My

1:13

name is Rich. And I'm

1:15

Tracy. Hello y'all, thanks for tuning into

1:17

the podcast. With this

1:20

show, we're going to pick right back up with

1:22

our look at what happened in We

1:25

looked at April and May last time,

1:27

so with this episode, we'll start off

1:29

with, yes, you guessed it, June.

1:33

On June 3rd, 1863, a

1:36

quote unquote peace convention

1:38

organized by former mayor and prominent

1:41

copperhead Fernando Wood takes place

1:43

in New York City. In

1:46

its coverage the following day, the New

1:48

York Times will call the gathering quote,

1:50

one of the largest recently held in the

1:53

city and declare that it's

1:55

characterized by, quote, it's

1:57

open, straightforward, avowed sympathy.

2:00

with the principles and the cause

2:02

of the secessionist. Okay.

2:05

Well, in Washington, the War

2:07

Department announces on June 4th

2:10

that contrary to promises otherwise,

2:12

black soldiers will be paid less

2:15

than their white comrades. While

2:18

whites receive $13 a month,

2:20

black soldiers will be paid $10 a month and

2:22

will have $3 deducted for clothing, whereas

2:27

whites receive a clothing bonus.

2:31

This announcement provokes a storm

2:33

of protest from black soldiers,

2:35

their white officers, and

2:37

many civilians, including prominent black

2:40

abolitionist Frederick Douglass, who has

2:42

already thrown his considerable influence

2:45

behind the effort to recruit

2:47

black soldiers. Black

2:50

soldiers aren't given the option of

2:52

leaving the service if they object

2:54

to this radical and discriminatory policy

2:56

reversal. So many decide

2:58

that their only recourse is to refuse

3:01

to accept any pay until it's reversed.

3:04

Despite the hardship, this will cause them

3:06

and their families, many of

3:08

whom will be turned away from white-run

3:10

charities in the North as the pay

3:12

strike continues. Three

3:15

days after the War Department's

3:17

announcement on June 7th at

3:19

a federal outpost at Milliken's

3:21

Bend on the Mississippi River

3:23

above Vicksburg, three newly

3:26

formed and barely trained black

3:28

regiments, along with the 23rd

3:30

Iowa and with the assistance

3:33

of two Union gunboats, turn

3:36

back a Confederate attack after

3:38

fierce fighting. The black regiments

3:40

suffer some 35%

3:43

casualties and some of

3:45

the captured are reportedly murdered. Assistant

3:48

Secretary of War Charles Dana will

3:50

note that the valor of the

3:52

black soldiers at Milliken's Bend, quote,

3:55

completely revolutionized the sentiment of

3:57

the army with regard to the implications of the war. of

4:00

Negro troops. I heard

4:03

prominent officers who formerly in private

4:05

had sneered at the idea of the

4:07

Negro's fighting expressed themselves after

4:09

that as heartily in favor of

4:11

it. On

4:23

June 8th, Robert E. Lee writes to

4:26

Confederate Secretary of War James Seddon

4:28

saying, There is

4:30

always a hazard in military movements,

4:32

but we must decide between the

4:35

positive loss of inactivity and the

4:37

risk of action. Even

4:41

as he writes to Seddon, Lee

4:43

has already started marching his army

4:45

north and west away from Fredericksburg

4:48

toward the Shenandoah Valley, the

4:50

beginning of the movement that will take

4:52

the Army of Northern Virginia across the

4:54

Potomac River and then up into Pennsylvania.

4:58

On June 9th, Federal Horsemen

5:00

commanded by Alfred Pleasanton cross

5:02

the Rappahannock River upstream from

5:04

Fredericksburg and surprise Jeb Stewart,

5:07

initiating the greatest cavalry battle of

5:10

the war at Brandy Station. Much

5:13

of the fighting is conducted

5:15

dismounted, but Fleetwood Hill is

5:17

the scene of flashing sabers,

5:19

banging pistols, and furious charges

5:22

and counter charges. After

5:24

hours of combat, the Federal Horsemen

5:27

withdraw back across the Rappahannock, leaving

5:30

Jeb Stewart in possession of the field,

5:32

so he can claim victory. But

5:36

Brandy Station has been a

5:38

near-run thing, and in reality is

5:40

more a draw. The

5:43

Union cavalry surprised Stewart and

5:45

then matched the rebel horse

5:47

soldiers blow for blow. The

5:50

hard-fought battle at Brandy Station

5:52

removes the sense of inferiority

5:54

that has haunted the Federal

5:56

Troopers in previous engagements, and

5:58

from this day forward, they'll fight with

6:01

a new sense of confidence. The

6:04

next day, June 10, Abraham

6:06

Lincoln is concerned by a telegram

6:08

he's received from Hooker. Fighting

6:11

Joe proposes moving against Richmond rather

6:13

than following the rebels as they

6:16

march away from Fredericksburg, but

6:18

Lincoln tells him, quote, I

6:20

think Lee's army and not Richmond

6:23

is your true objective point. On

6:26

June 14, Major General Nathaniel

6:28

Banks calls on the Confederate

6:30

garrison that's under siege at

6:32

Port Hudson, Louisiana to surrender,

6:35

and when they do not, Banks

6:37

orders the second all-out assault on

6:39

the rebel strong point that sits

6:41

on the Mississippi River downstream from

6:43

Vicksburg. But this federal

6:46

attack is as unsuccessful as

6:48

the first, which we talked

6:50

about in the last episode. This

6:53

second failure means Banks' siege

6:55

of Port Hudson, like Grant's

6:57

siege of Vicksburg to the

6:59

north, will continue. In

7:02

Virginia, also on June 14, Dick

7:05

Uelskor, which is leading Robert E.

7:07

Lee's advance down the Shenandoah Valley

7:09

toward the Potomac River, meets

7:12

and defeats more than 6,000 Yankees

7:14

commanded by Major General Robert

7:16

Milroy at the Second Battle

7:18

of Winchester. After

7:20

attacking and nearly overrunning the federal

7:23

garrison of Winchester during the fighting

7:25

that begins late in the day

7:27

at 6 p.m., Uels' troops then

7:30

position themselves nearby at Stevenson's Depot

7:32

to intercept the fleeing Yankees as

7:34

they try to march off and

7:36

escape in the darkness. When

7:40

all is said and done, Second

7:42

Winchester is an absolute disaster for

7:44

the Federals, as Uels takes

7:46

some 4,000 prisoners and

7:49

clears the way for the rest of

7:51

the Army of Northern Virginia to march

7:53

down the Shenandoah Valley to the Potomac

7:55

River. On

8:07

June 17th in Georgia, the

8:10

Confederate ironclad CSS Atlanta runs

8:12

aground after a brief battle

8:14

with two Union warships at

8:17

the mouth of the Wilmington River, and she's

8:19

forced to surrender. Adding

8:22

insult to injury, the Federals

8:24

will incorporate Atlanta into their

8:26

blockading squadron. Also

8:28

on the 17th, at Vicksburg,

8:31

Mrs. Mary Webster-Lobrow, occupying

8:33

one of the many caves in which

8:35

the town's civilians have taken refuge

8:37

from Federal shelling, is

8:39

suffering through a heavier than usual

8:42

bombardment when she's startled by shouts,

8:45

and, quote, "...a

8:47

most fearful jar and rocking of the

8:49

earth, followed by a deafening explosion, such

8:52

as I had never heard before. The

8:55

cave, filled instantly with smoke and dust.

8:58

I stood with a tingling, prickling

9:00

sensation in my head, hands, and

9:02

feet, and with a confused brain.

9:06

Yet alive was the first glad thought that

9:08

came to me, child,

9:10

servants, all here and

9:12

saved. A mortar-shell had

9:14

struck the corner of the cave, fortunately near

9:16

the brow of the hill, gone

9:18

obliquely into the earth, exploding as

9:21

it went, breaking large masses from

9:23

the side of the hill. A

9:25

portion of the earth from the roof of

9:28

my cave had been dislodged and fallen. Aside

9:31

from this, it remained intact."

9:34

Also on June 17th, in Virginia,

9:36

Union Cavalry, trying to keep track

9:39

of the northward movement of Robert

9:41

E. Lee's army, battles

9:43

successfully to dislodge Confederate horsemen

9:45

from the village of Aldi.

9:48

One of the Federals, Captain George Armstrong

9:51

Custer, leads a heroic charge that will

9:53

be a factor in his upcoming promotion

9:55

at the age of 23 to Brigadier

9:58

General. The

10:00

next day, June 18th, an

10:03

irritated General-in-Chief Henry Halleck, who

10:05

is the recipient of messages

10:07

from alarmed Northern governors, telegraphs

10:10

Joseph Hooker, telling him, quote,

10:13

They are asking me, why does not

10:15

General Hooker tell where Lee's army is?

10:18

He is nearest to it. End

10:21

quote. Well,

10:23

despite the workings of the Army

10:25

of the Potomac's Bureau of Military

10:27

Information, which Hooker established, and

10:30

despite the ample evidence provided by

10:32

Milroy's defeat at Winchester, that the

10:34

rebels are moving north down the

10:36

Shenandoah Valley, there's still

10:38

considerable uncertainty as to what

10:40

part of Lee's army is

10:42

where. Hooker

10:44

and his Chief of Staff, Dan

10:47

Butterfield, claim they cannot, in

10:49

Butterfield's words, quote, go

10:52

boggling around until we know what

10:54

we are going after. But

10:57

some of Hooker's lieutenants are concerned

10:59

about his lack of urgency and

11:01

decisiveness in pursuing the Confederate Army

11:03

while it's on the move. The

11:06

Army of the Potomac's Provo

11:08

Marshal, Marcina Patrick, will confide

11:10

to his diary that Hooker,

11:12

quote, acts like a man

11:14

without a plan and is entirely at

11:16

a loss what to do or how

11:18

to match the enemy or counteract his

11:21

movements. On

11:23

June 20th, pursuant to a

11:26

December 31st, 1862 Act

11:28

of Congress and a Presidential Proclamation

11:30

of April 20th, 1863, 50

11:34

western counties, formerly part of the Confederate

11:37

State of Virginia, are today

11:39

admitted to the Union as the State

11:41

of West Virginia. Under

11:43

a state constitution stipulating those

11:45

children born of slaves after

11:48

July 4th, 1863, are

11:50

free, and all other slaves are

11:52

free as of their 25th birthday. On

11:56

June 22nd, Yule's Corps leads the Army of Northern Virginia, according to the

11:58

U.S. Department of Defense, and the U.S. Department of Defense. across the

12:00

Potomac River and into Maryland. A.P.

12:03

Hill and James Longstreet will have the

12:05

men of their corps across within two

12:07

days. Also on

12:09

the 22nd, out in Mississippi at Vicksburg,

12:12

where the Yankees have finished digging a

12:14

tunnel in order to place a mine

12:16

under a section of the Confederate lines,

12:19

it's detonated and results in a

12:21

massive explosion. One

12:23

federal engineer officer says the

12:26

explosion burst up from the

12:28

ground, quote, until it

12:30

looked like an immense fountain of

12:32

finely pulverized earth, mingled with

12:34

flashes of fire and clouds of smoke,

12:37

through which could occasionally be caught at

12:39

glimpse of some dark objects, men,

12:42

gun carriages, et cetera. When

12:45

the death settles, federal soldiers rush

12:47

into this huge crater and begin

12:49

a bloody struggle against the Confederate

12:52

defenders. An Illinois

12:54

soldier recalls, quote, hand-to-hand

12:56

conflict rages, hand

12:58

grenades, and loaded shells are lighted and

13:01

thrown over the parapet by the rebels

13:03

as you would play ball, as

13:06

many as a dozen men being killed

13:08

and wounded at one explosion. Many

13:10

a brave hero laid down his life in

13:12

that death hole. For

13:15

48 hours, the Federals pay a terrible

13:17

price to hold the crater and attempt

13:19

to push beyond it, but

13:22

it proves impossible to expand their

13:24

foothold and the Confederate lines, and

13:26

they're finally withdrawn. The

13:28

siege of Vicksburg will continue. In

13:32

Middle Tennessee, where there's been a stalemate

13:34

between the opposing armies since the New

13:36

Year's Battle of Stones River, the

13:39

commander of the Federal's Army of

13:41

the Cumberland, William Rosecrans, is finally

13:43

ready to start his long-awaited offensive,

13:46

and on June 23rd, old

13:49

Rosie launches his Pahla-Homa campaign.

13:52

It's a brilliant campaign of

13:54

maneuver, which, by July 3rd,

13:56

will force the Confederate commander,

13:58

Braxton Bragg, to withdraw

14:00

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calm routine of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania

15:23

is shattered on Friday, June 26th, when

15:26

rebel soldiers from Jubal Early's Division

15:29

of Yule's Corps march into town.

15:32

After entering Pennsylvania, Yule's Corps

15:34

is headed for the Susquehanna

15:36

River in Harrisburg, but

15:38

Early stops in Gettysburg just long enough

15:40

to write out a list of demands

15:43

for the town, including 60 barrels

15:45

of flour, 6,000 pounds

15:48

of bacon, 1,000 pairs of shoes, and 500 hats.

15:53

Borough Council President David Kindlehart,

15:56

after consulting the council, instead

15:58

invited Early to search the town's

16:01

shops for supplies, but little

16:03

was found. The next morning,

16:05

Old Jube and his troops continue on

16:07

their way eastward toward the

16:09

Susquehanna River, and the residents of

16:12

Gettysburg breathe a sigh of relief

16:14

that the rebels are gone. On

16:17

June 27th, as the Army of

16:19

the Potomac marches north through Maryland

16:21

in pursuit of the Confederate Army

16:23

that's invading Pennsylvania, a

16:25

dispute between Hooker and General

16:27

and Chief Henry Halleck about

16:29

whether the garrison at Harper's

16:32

Ferry should evacuate the place

16:34

and join him leads Hooker

16:36

to request, quote, that I

16:38

may at once be relieved

16:40

from the position I occupy.

16:42

Hooker's request to be relieved is

16:44

almost certainly a gambit designed to pressure

16:46

Halleck to release the garrison of Harper's

16:48

Ferry to him, but

16:50

instead of backing down, Halleck passes

16:53

Hooker's request along to Abraham Lincoln.

16:56

Lincoln was willing to stick with

16:58

Hooker even after the debacle at

17:00

Chancellorsville, but he has

17:03

been growing more and more

17:05

concerned about Hooker's ability to

17:07

deal with the unfolding crisis

17:09

as the Confederates strike deeper

17:11

into south central Pennsylvania. In

17:14

the end, although replacing Hooker in

17:16

the middle of an ongoing campaign

17:18

is risky, the President

17:21

accepts Hooker's resignation and

17:23

appoints George Gordon Meade to command

17:25

the Army of the Potomac. Meade

17:29

takes command on June 28th.

17:32

The next day, the 29th, Alpheus

17:34

Williams, a brigadier general in the

17:36

Army of the Potomac, writes to

17:38

his daughters, telling them, quote, it

17:41

is reported that the rebels are 110,000 strong in

17:43

infantry with 20,000 cavalry. I think the report is

17:46

greatly exaggerated, but

17:51

they have been all winter recruiting by

17:53

conscription while we have been all winter

17:56

running down. Still, I

17:58

don't despair. On the Contrary now

18:00

with the gentleman and a soldier in

18:02

command I have renewed confidence that we

18:05

shall at least do enough to preserve

18:07

our honor and the safety of the

18:09

Republic But we run

18:11

a fearful risk because upon this

18:14

small army everything depends On

18:17

June 30th writing to his mother

18:19

from Washington poet Walt Whitman reports

18:22

on one of the city's prominent

18:24

citizens quote Mr.

18:27

Lincoln passes here every evening on his

18:29

way out to the soldier's home where

18:31

the Lincoln's spend the hot summer evenings.

18:33

I Noted him

18:35

last evening about half past six He

18:38

was in a carriage two horses guarded

18:41

by about 30 cavalry He

18:44

looks more careworn than even than

18:46

usual his face with deep-cut lines

18:49

a curious-looking man very sad

18:53

He was alone yesterday as he

18:55

came up He first drove over to the house

18:57

of the Secretary of War on K Street Sat

19:00

in his carriage while Stanton came out

19:03

and had a 15-minute interview with him.

19:06

I can see from my window meanwhile

19:09

in Pennsylvania on the last day of

19:11

June as Intelligence suggests

19:13

that Lee's army is concentrating

19:15

around Chambersburg or Gettysburg George

19:19

Meade orders Major General John Reynolds

19:21

Commanding the left wing of the army of

19:23

the Potomac to move to Gettysburg

19:27

Brigadier General John Buford and two

19:29

brigades of Union cavalry have already

19:31

arrived in Gettysburg and are keeping

19:33

a watchful eye on the roads

19:35

leading into town The

19:37

federal horsemen are observed from afar

19:40

by Confederate Infantry Brigade whose

19:42

commander reports that Yankee cavalry

19:44

are in Gettysburg and A.P.

19:46

Hill determines to move in

19:49

that direction the following day

20:03

On Wednesday, July 1st, AP

20:05

Hill's reconnaissance toward Gettysburg leads

20:07

to an engagement between rebel

20:09

infantry from Henry Hughes Division

20:11

and John Buford's Union cavalrymen.

20:14

The combat that morning is the start

20:16

of the three-day battle of Gettysburg. Buford's

20:19

horsemen delay the Confederates long enough for

20:22

federal infantry to begin to arrive on

20:24

the battlefield. John

20:26

Reynolds is killed as he leads a

20:28

Wisconsin regiment from the Iron Brigade into

20:30

position. As

20:33

Robert E. Lee and more and more

20:35

troops from both sides arrive on the

20:37

scene, the Federals are forced to retreat

20:39

through Gettysburg after bitter fighting to the

20:41

north and west of town. By

20:44

that evening, though, the Yankees have regrouped on

20:46

the high ground south of Gettysburg, forming

20:49

part of what eventually will

20:51

be a fishhook-shaped line that

20:54

includes place names that will

20:56

soon be legendary—Culp's Hill, Cemetery

20:58

Hill, Cemetery Ridge, and Little

21:01

Round Top. Late

21:03

that night, George Meade arrives on

21:05

the battlefield. While across the way,

21:07

Robert E. Lee is determined to

21:09

renew the contest the following day.

21:13

Out in Bixburg on July 1st, John

21:15

Pemberton sends a message to each of

21:18

his four division commanders. Quote, Unless

21:21

the siege of Bixburg is raised,

21:23

or supplies thrown in, it will

21:25

become necessary very shortly to evacuate

21:28

the place. You

21:30

are therefore requested to inform me

21:32

as to the condition of your

21:34

troops and their ability to accomplish

21:36

a successful evacuation. But

21:39

weeks of reduced rations and the

21:41

prolonged stress of the siege have

21:43

taken their toll on the men's

21:45

strength and morale, and the division

21:47

commanders report that a breakout is

21:49

no longer possible. Two

21:52

of them advise Pemberton to

21:55

surrender immediately. On

21:57

Thursday, July 2nd, leading 2,500 men's strength

21:59

and morale. Confederate horsemen, John

22:02

Hunt Morgan sets out from Tennessee

22:04

and begins the longest cavalry raid

22:06

of the war. During

22:08

25 days of almost constant

22:10

rioting and combat and covering more

22:12

than 700 miles through

22:14

Kentucky, southeast Indiana and

22:17

southern and eastern Ohio, Morgan

22:20

will divert some 14,000 federal troops from other

22:23

duties and spark the call up

22:26

of over 100,000 local militiamen before he is

22:30

trapped on the north side of the Ohio

22:32

River and finally captured on

22:34

July 26th, about

22:36

40 miles from Pittsburgh. At

22:50

Gettysburg on July 2nd, despite objections

22:52

from James Longstreet, who favors a

22:54

turning movement to the south, Robert

22:57

E. Lee orders an attack against

23:00

the federal left, which begins under

23:02

Longstreet's command about four o'clock that

23:04

afternoon. Over the

23:06

next three and a half hours in some

23:09

of the most intense combat of the entire

23:11

war, the soldiers of 11 Confederate

23:13

brigades pitch into the Union

23:15

left and center like so

23:18

many successive waves of an

23:20

angry sea crashing on the

23:22

shore. Launching their

23:24

own assault on the federal right a

23:26

few hours after Longstreet's blow against the

23:28

Union left, portions of

23:30

Uell's Corps will also fight

23:32

valiantly, sweeping up Culp's Hill

23:35

and East Cemetery Hill in

23:37

a series of dramatic nighttime

23:39

attacks. Several times

23:41

that day the federal army seemed to

23:43

teeter on the brink of destruction, but

23:46

the rebel gains would prove fleeting as

23:48

each of their attacks was either

23:51

thwarted by the timely arrival of

23:53

Union reinforcements or hindered by

23:55

lack of support. Casualties

23:58

are appalling on both sides. but

24:00

the day will end with the Army

24:03

of the Potomac still holding much the

24:05

same ground it had occupied that morning.

24:08

On Friday, July 3rd, Confederate Vice

24:10

President Alexander Stevens sets out from

24:13

Richmond aboard a boat bearing a

24:15

flag of truce, sailing

24:17

down the James River. Acting

24:20

with the full approval of Jefferson

24:22

Davis and his cabinet, Stevens will

24:25

approach the Union lines around Norfolk,

24:27

bearing a peace proposal from Davis

24:29

to Abraham Lincoln. Stevens,

24:32

who knows Lincoln from the time

24:34

they served together in Congress, hopes

24:36

that his diplomatic mission, undertaken

24:38

in connection with Lee's invasion

24:41

of Pennsylvania, will secure

24:43

Confederate independence. In

24:46

Mississippi on the 3rd, Pemberton leaves the

24:48

Confederate lines under a flag of truce

24:50

to meet with Ulysses S. Grant, whom

24:52

he knows from their service together in

24:55

Mexico. Grant

24:57

reiterates his demand, made in

24:59

an earlier message, that the

25:02

Vicksburg garrison surrender unconditionally. Pemberton,

25:05

however, is reluctant to agree,

25:08

so he returns to his own lines,

25:11

and negotiations continue by letter

25:13

until late into the night.

25:16

At Gettysburg, the day opens with Union

25:18

artillery fire ripping into the Confederate positions

25:20

at the base of Culp's Hill, beginning

25:24

a seven-hour struggle that is the

25:26

longest sustained combat of the battle.

25:29

The rebels make repeated attempts to push

25:31

the Yankees off the hill, but they

25:34

fail to gain the heights. Meanwhile,

25:36

Robert E. Lee, who is convinced his

25:39

men came within a hair's breadth of

25:41

inflicting a fatal blow on the enemy

25:43

the day before, launches

25:45

a massive attack against the center of

25:48

the Federal line on Cemetery Ridge. The

25:51

Confederate attack, known to history

25:53

as Pickett's Charge, is

25:55

the most famous assault of the Civil

25:57

War, but gallant though it is a very dangerous attack. the

26:00

effort was, it fails. The

26:03

Federal Infantry and Artillery holding

26:06

the ridge successfully repulsed the

26:08

charge after desperate fighting when

26:10

the charging rebels momentarily pierced

26:12

the Union lines. The

26:15

spot where the Confederate Infantry momentarily pierced

26:17

the Federal lines on Cemetery Ridge on

26:19

the afternoon of July 3, 1863, has

26:21

come to symbolize the supposed high

26:26

watermark of the Confederacy, the

26:29

point where many, with hindsight

26:31

mixed with nostalgia, believe

26:34

rebel fortunes crested before

26:36

receding. On

26:49

the 4th of July, a Gettysburg

26:51

exhausted troops and overwhelmed medical

26:53

workers surveyed the carnage. Over

26:56

the past three days, over 45,000 men on both

26:58

sides have

27:01

been killed, wounded, or gone missing.

27:05

Union nurse Sophrania Buckland will write

27:07

about her arrival after the battle,

27:10

quote, everywhere wounded men

27:12

were lying in the streets on heaps

27:15

of blood-stained straw. Everywhere

27:17

there was hurry and confusion

27:19

while soldiers were groaning and

27:21

suffering. As the

27:23

evening descends and the rain, which has

27:25

been falling since midday, now grows heavier,

27:28

Robert E. Lee retreats from

27:30

Gettysburg. Miles of

27:32

marching men and wounded loaded in

27:35

wagons struggle along the muddy roads.

27:38

By then, Abraham Lincoln has announced

27:40

to the country that, quote, news

27:42

from the Army of the Potomac is such

27:45

as to cover that Army with the highest

27:47

honor and to promise a great success to

27:49

the cause of the Union. Out

27:52

in Mississippi on July 4th, John

27:54

C. Pemberton and the Confederate garrison

27:56

of Vicksburg march out of their

27:58

lines stack their arms

28:01

and surrender to Ulysses Sascrant,

28:04

who thinks the capture of the Gibraltar

28:06

of the West is so

28:08

significant that he will later write in

28:10

his memoirs, quote, The

28:13

fate of the Confederacy was sealed

28:15

when Vicksburg fell. In

28:18

Washington on the 4th, after a

28:20

cabinet discussion about Alexander Stevens proposed

28:22

visit to the Capitol and with

28:25

the good news from Gettysburg already

28:27

in hand, Abraham Lincoln

28:29

sends word that the Confederate vice

28:31

president's request to pass through the

28:33

union lines is denied. On

28:37

July 9th, six days after

28:39

Mead's victory at Gettysburg and

28:41

five after Grant's capture of

28:43

Vicksburg, the Confederate garrison

28:45

at Port Hudson surrenders to

28:47

Nathaniel Banks, ending the

28:49

siege of the last rebel strong point

28:51

along the Mississippi. With

28:54

the river now in federal hands

28:56

along its entire length from north

28:58

to south, the Confederacy is split

29:00

in two and Abraham Lincoln

29:02

will declare the father

29:05

of waters again goes unvexed

29:07

to the sea. That

29:16

means it's time for this episode's book

29:18

recommendation. And our recommendation this

29:20

time is if we are

29:23

striking for Pennsylvania, the Army of

29:25

the Potomac and the Army of Northern

29:27

Virginia marched to Gettysburg volumes

29:29

one and two by Scott L

29:32

Mingus and Eric J. Wittenberg. Yep,

29:35

this is a two for one

29:37

recommendation because these books came

29:39

out after our coverage of Gettysburg

29:41

here on the podcast, but

29:43

they're excellent. And we wanted to

29:46

take the opportunity to bring them to your

29:48

attention now. So there you

29:50

go. Don't forget you

29:52

can find a complete list of all of

29:54

our book recommendations. If you head over to

29:56

the podcast website, which is www.f

30:00

civilwarpodcast.org. Also

30:03

on the website, you can find info

30:05

on joining the Strawfoot Brigade over on

30:08

Patreon and supporting the podcast in that

30:10

way, just like Chris C.,

30:13

Greg H., David B.,

30:16

Andy L., and Julie M.

30:19

And thanks to all of you for listening to

30:21

this episode of the podcast. Rich

30:23

and I do hope that you'll join us again next

30:25

time, but until then, take care.

30:28

Thanks, everyone, bye.