Exploring the most important 55 months in American history
July 4, 1863 – General Robert E. Lee’s Confederate Army of Northern Virginia began retreating from Gettysburg, but the swelling Potomac River threatened to trap
July 4, 1863 – Lieutenant General John C. Pemberton’s Confederates formally surrendered on Independence Day, transferring the mighty stronghold of Vicksburg to Federal hands. Major
July 3, 1863 – The Confederate soldiers and residents under siege in Vicksburg were on the verge of being starved into submission. By this time,
July 3, 1863 – General Robert E. Lee’s Confederate Army of Northern Virginia launched a massive, desperate charge to destroy the Federal Army of the
July 2, 1863 – Major General William S. Rosecrans’s Federal Army of the Cumberland captured Tullahoma, but Rosecrans still faced criticism for not moving against
July 2, 1863 – The Federal and Confederate armies gathered south of Gettysburg, where General Robert E. Lee launched ferocious attacks on both Federal flanks.