Arkansas, Gettysburg, and Vicksburg
All the east and middle parts of the Civil War are great for there battles and history but the little known and so often forgotten west is my idea of what was the turning point.
March 6th, 7th and 8th 1862 at a little tavern in the hills of Arkansas was the turning point of the war in my view. This decisive battle of Elkhorn Tavern or Pea Ridge kills the hopes of Missouri being included in the Confederacy and ends the possible advance of Confederate forces into the interior of the North of Illinois where the Federal Mississippi gunboat fleet is raised that leads to the defeat and control of the great river and arteries of the Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee river valley.
The loss at the battle in Arkansas would lead to the invasion of Missouri and the subsequent loss of forces used in the east and the great political loss of Lincoln as the Commander and Chief.
This to me is the decisive turning point, but alas it's just my opinion and as always opens to debate. Thanks for your interest and I'll stand for differing of viewpoints as always.
I also see the dual victories of Gettysburg and Vicksburg as turning points, or actually the death knell of the Confederate cause.
With Grant's victory and opening of the Mississippi River, and Hancock's defeat of R.E. Lee, the Confederacy was crushed, maybe not dead but it was bled dry.
The loss of manpower in both theaters of the war was a leading cause of the defeat of the Confederate States. She didn't know she was dead.
The human toll from both battles took a huge chunk of the remaining manpower that was so necessary in this battle of the old meeting the new.
Lee went from an aggressive adversary to a wily defender to stretch the string out. Grant went from an area commander who had to fight tooth and nail with his Superiors to the Commander in Chief of all the Federal forces. This loss on both fronts of the Confederacy was just too much to survive.
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© Copyright 2003 by Marc Shefelton.
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