Battles Civil War. Identify Explain Impact War.

¶ … battles Civil War. Identify explain impact war. Reference: Faragher, J.M., Buhle, M.

The Civil War was quite easily the most devastating war to occur on American soil. Prior to World War II, it would remain one of the deadliest martial encounters that the United States was involved in. Although there were several different battles that produced a profound impact on this war, some of the most pivotal ones occurred in 1863 and included the Battle of Gettysburg, the Battle of Vicksburg, and the Battle of Chancellorsville.

These three battles would produce a critical impact on the outcome of the war. It is important to remember that despite the fact that the South had more accomplished military commanders at the inception of the Civil War, it was a fledgling nation with a tenuous financial situation. Moreover, it was considerably outmanned by the more populous North, which could also utilize martial assistance from the Western portion of the country. Therefore, the South's hopes for a victory were somewhat marginalized, and replaced by the notion that if it could present a strong enough front against the Union, it could enlist foreign aid (in the form of France or Britain) which could formally recognize it as a nation and settle a peace treaty with the North that would allow the South to continue to exist.

The Battle of Chancellorsville played a significant role in increasing this desire on the part of the South -- and in ultimately ruining it. What is noteworthy about this particular belligerent encounter is that the South actually won, despite the fact that it was considerably outmanned by Union forces. Lee's stratagem of dividing his forces proved to be successful as the Confederacy was able to beguile the Union forces and greatly reduce its chances of gaining a quick victory in the war.

However, this battle was extremely costly to the South as well, which lost 13,000 men to the Union's 17,000, nearly rendering the victory a Pyrrhic one. However, this battle would fuel the South's hope in two ways. The first was that it would give it a degree of legitimacy and make a foreign power such as France or England notice it. Secondly, due to the quantity of losses it absorbed, it made the aid of such a foreign power almost a requirement for the South's victory in the world.

The next influential battle, however, that of Gettysburg, would essentially doom the South on a pair of fronts. The South lost more than double of the men it lost at Chancellorsville during the Gettysburg encounter, which greatly reduced its chances for incurring formal recognition or assistance from a foreign power. The three day encounter, which was largely launched by Lee on the basis of his victory at Chancellorsville, would essentially mean that the South would now have to concentrate all its hopes on defeating the Union army unassisted.