Vicksburg AssaultsMay 19 and 22, 1863-Two dramatic assaults occurred against the works surrounding Vicksburg, Mississippi, the key bastion that prevented Union naval supremacy of the Mississippi River. The two attacks cost the Union army 4,100 casualties and no ground gained. However, in the end, extended siege forced the garrison to surrender. On Independence Day, Major General Ulysses Grant seized the city and paroled its starving defenders.
ChancellorsvilleMay 1-3, 1863-Fought in Virginia, this battle was the third bloodiest battle of the war. Although it was a stunning Confederate success, the Army of Northern Virginia lost 22 percent of its force and one of its ablest generals, “Stonewall” Jackson, who had been accidentally shot by his own men on May 2.