Civil War in the US?

Question

What was the turning point in that war? Some say it was over thousands of lives lost gaining ground, some say French intervention, but according to historians, what is the turning point?

I just want to make people more aware of that ugly war, answering or voting, any choice is ok....

Answer 1

the turning point in the civil war would be the attack on fort sumter. On paper the Union had more resources and more men..more everything. I commend the confederates for lasting that long against Billy Yank.

side note: I don't remember the French intervening in the American Civil War. They were busy advancing the white flag making industry.

Answer 2

According to historians the turning point was Gettysburg and though allot of people have said that, no one has really given a reason or at least a good reason as to why. Gettysburg was the farthest north that the south had ever gotten (pretty much their last try at the offensive). The reason it was the turning point was because had the south won the battle there would have been no other Union army in place to stop Lee from marching into Washington D.C. and taking the nations capitol. But because they lost, it destroyed all the offensive capability the South had and made them revert to the defensive position of just try to protect the southern states from northern attack. And then the other battles (as mentioned by others) for the next 2 years pretty much decimated the southern army.

Answer 3

Ist, France never intervened in the Civil War they were to busy trying to conquer Mexico.

The Turning point is seen in different places by Different historians Charles L. Dufour says, in The Night the War was Lost, The Fall of New Orleans spelled the doom of the Confederacy. The inability to hold the largest city in the Confederacy lead to their demise. Some say that Antietam with Lee Unable to hold the Field after McClellan had ceded it to him ,due to casualties was the turning point. But most look to Gettysburg as the battle that lead to the Fall of the Confederacy. With it's Large number of casualties and the utter defeat of Lee's offensive capabilities.

I hold with a belief that it was Grants Vicksburg Campaign that lead to the Fall of the Confederacy . The Fact that Grant could land an Army unopposed and march it without supplies and from 30 April to 16 May keep 2 Confederate Armies off Balance, Bragg's Army of Tennessee, and Pemberton's Garrison Army at Vicksburg fight Three (3) Major battles , Grand Gulf 1, May 1863, Jackson13-14 May 1863 and Champon Hill 16 May 1863 and still have the power for a siege of the City was not repeated by any army until Sept, 1939. Arnolds, Grant wins the War; Desision at Vicksburg.

For you I'd say Gettysburg would be what you would want as most people support that Idea and more id written about that Battle.

Civil War Buff for forty years. God defend the right.

Answer 4

Actually the historians disagree! Some say it was the Battle of Antietam (Sharpsburg to the South). Although the battle was a draw, Lee withdrew giving the Union forces the appearance of a victory which enabled Lincoln to issue the Emancipation Proclamation and the British and French to rethink possible intervention on behalf of the South.

Others say Gettysburg because the issue was still in doubt until Lee's army was defeated. They state that Antietam would only be a footnote in history if Lee had won (as he came close to doing) at Gettysburg.

Answer 5

The Confederacy lost the war at First Manassas (first battle of Bull Run) when it failed to take advantage of the rout of Union forces and move to take Washington. Once the armies of the South had captured the Union capitol, it is probable that some sort of negotiations would have brought the war to a close with the acceptance of the secession of the eleven Confederate states. By failing to do so, however - and by failing to similarly capitalize on other victories which came early in the war, the South permitted the North to recoup and regroup.

Because of the tremendous superiority of money, men and materials in the Union - together with the blockade of Southern ports which prevented the Confederacy from receiving outside aid - the conclusion of the war was foregone once it got down to a matter of the two sides 'slugging it out'. The South just didn't have the necessary wherewithall to prevail in the war barring a loss of will in the North to pursue the conflict - which, of course, didn't happen.

Answer 6

I agree with Jadeite. The South was doomed before it began. Once it became a military contest, the rest was inevitable.

You COULD make a case that it was the reelection of Abraham Lincoln in 1864, for had he been defeated, there might have been a negotiated end that left the Confederacy as an independent country; but I don't really think that was hanging in the balance that much.

James McPherson identifies three turning points, but none of them a single event: The Fall of 1862 (Antietam, Corinth, Perrysburg); the Summer of 1963 (Vicksburg, Gettysburg); and the Fall of 1864 (Atlanta's fall, Sheridan in the Valley, the reelection of Lincoln).

But I don't think there was ever a reasonable chance for the war to end other than it did, as long as the North kept fighting.

Answer 7

The Battle of Gettysburg is considered the turning point in the Civil War and the high tide of the Confederacy. Confederate incompetency and General Lee's insistence upon sending Picketts Charge against Union on the high ground must have really demoralized the Army of Virginia.

Answer 8

Gettysburg - Fall of Vicksburg - Sherman's March to the Sea were three major turning points. these were each important in their own way but a lot depends upon which historian one refers to.

another consideration would be the lack of foreign intervention on behalf of the Confederate States of America. had France, England or Spain recognized the Confederate States of America as a sovereign nation and had aided them as the Southern States hoped for the war might have gone differently, however Foreign aid did NOT materialize.

Answer 9

The turning point came not in a sudden event like the standoff at Antietam Creek in Sharpsburg Maryland, but in the attrition of men and materiel that the South could not replace in the same manner as the North.

Lee invaded Maryland in September of 1862 looking for food, shoes and recruits and he barely escaped back into Virginia with anything like an Army after the bloodiest day in American history.

I believe the first Maryland Campaign was the beginning of the end for the Army of Northern Virginia.





-K

Answer 10

...some say French intervention... Wrong war, that was the Revolutionary War, not the Civil War. The turning point was the failure of Picket's charge during the battle at Gettysburg.

Answer 11

I would have to say Chancellorsville was a key turning point in the Civil War for a couple of reasons. One, Lee's rout of Hooker made him overly confident in drawing up plans for his invasion of Pennsylvania that ended at Gettysburg. Seond, the loss of Stonewall Jackson was a major blow to the Cnfederate command structure, which was exposed two months later at Gettysburg.