The year 1863 was indeed a turning point during the Civil War, but the stage was set a year earlier. By mid-1862, the Civil War had gained momentum, and President Abraham Lincoln was eager to win the war with fewer casualties, but the Confederates seemed resilient (Griffith, 2015). Lincoln confided to his cabinet in August 1862 that he would release a proclamation that would set the slaves free. True to his words, President Lincoln signed the Proclamation of Emancipation on January 1, 1863, which changed the cause of the war in favor of the Union. The freed slaves joined the Union forces in large numbers that which increased the Union’s manpower exponentially (Gallagher & Waugh, 2015). As a result, the Confederates, with a shortage of human resources, stood no chance against the reinforced Union military. Hence, the balance was offset, and all the signs showed that the Union had the edge over the South.
Additionally, the accidental encounter between the Confederate army at Gettysburg led by General Lee and the Union’s army between July 1 and 3, 1863, further cemented 1863 as the turning point. Although both sides experienced high casualties, the Confederates lost almost half of their troops within those few days (Shi & Tindall, 2016). The results were a weakened Confederate army. Another significant occurrence related to the Gettysburg battle was Lincoln’s Gettysburg address which pointed out that the Union had transformed its purpose to ending slavery from preserving the Union. After the Gettysburg battle, the focus of the Union was to end slavery in America (Reid, 2013). That means the course and purpose of the war had changed, making 1863 a significant turning point in the Civil War.
References
Gallagher, G. W., & Waugh, J. (2015). The American war: A history of the Civil War era. Flip Learning.
Griffith, J. (2015). A study of Civil War leadership: Gettysburg as a turning point. Cedarville University. Web.
Reid, B. H. (2013). 1863: Military turning points, Gettysburg, Vicksburg, Tullahoma. OAH Magazine of History, 27(2), 23-27.
Shi, D. E., & Tindall, G. B. (2016). America: A narrative history. WW Norton & Company.