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The Civil War was the bloodiest war in American history. 617,000 men were killed in the struggle for southern independence. Most people think that the Civil War was just a fight to free the slaves. In reality, the war was not meant to free the slaves until the rough draft of the Emacipation Proclamation was published on September 22, 1862, shortly after the Battle of Sharpsburg, or the Battle of Antietam. The advantages from the start of the war were plain: the South had a greater number of good generals, while their men knew the outdoors and were able to cope with what resources they had. The North did not have as many brilliant generals as the South did, but what they lacked in intelligence they made up for in superior numbers, supplies, and industry. When General Lee arrived to take command of the Confederate troops in the East, the Confederate capital was under siege. Lee freed the capital from the pressure laid on it by 116,000 Northern troops, under George Brinton McClellan, and proceeded to begin a series of campaigns never seen before in the history of the world.
Despite the fact that the South had less men and material, Robert E. Lee was able to thwart the North in a number of situations. One of the most famous strategies he undertook during the war was at the Battle of Chancellorsville. With only 42,000 men facing superior numbers of 70,000, Lee split his forces. 28,000 men under General Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson marched around General Joseph Hooker's army, and proceeded to defeat the Unionists in fine fighting style. The Union lost more men than the Confederacy, but the Confederate commander lost his most prized general: "Stonewall" Jackson. The Confederates never recovered from the mortal blow and loss.
Lee was in trouble after the Battle of Gettysburg, in Pennsylvania during July 1-3 1863. The Confederates had lost a third of the men in their army, and Virginia could not afford to continue supplying their troops and enemy troops for another three years. When General Ulysses S. Grant arrived from the West to take charge, he had his work cut out for him. He had a reasonable plan to defeat the Rebels as well. He used the Northern advantage of manpower and supplies to grind away at the Confederates. The complex maneuvers he was pulling off were hard for the Confederates to immediately follow. Lee had no choice but to meet Grant step for step along through Virginia.
Unfortunately for the Confederacy, they could not live on a long, harsh defensive war. But, Grant had no intention of letting the Confederates mount an attack. He continued pressing, with the hopes of destroying the Confederacy. At last, however, Lee could not stop Grant fromm bogging him down in a siege. Grant had been trying to avoid a siege as well, but he didn't mind wearing down Confederate men and material by that method. He made several attempts to get Lee, but all but one failed. At long last, Grant found Lee's weak spot and Richmond. Seven days after the Confederates abandoned Petersburg (April 2nd, 1865), the Confederates surrendered. A long chain of surrenders followed that of Lee's. The Civil War ended at last.
