There is widespread disagreement over the turning point of the American Civil War. The idea of a turning point is an event after which most observers would agree that the eventual outcome was inevitable. While the Battle of Gettysburg is the most widely cited (often in combination with Battle of Vicksburg), there are several other arguable turning points in the American Civil War. Possibilities are presented here in chronological order. Only the positive arguments for each are given.
At the time of the event, the fog of war often makes it impossible to recognize all of the implications of any one victory. Hindsight well after the fact reveals the endpoint and all the developments that led up to it. In most cases, contemporary observers may lack confidence in predicting a turning point. In the Civil War, many of the turning points cited by historians would not have been recognized as such at the time.
Read more about Turning Point Of The American Civil War: Confederate Victory in First Battle of Bull Run (July 1861), Confederate Invasion of Kentucky (September 1861), Union Capture of Forts Henry and Donelson (February 1862), Union Capture of New Orleans (April 1862), Union Victory in Battle of Antietam (September 1862), Stonewall Jackson's Death (May 1863), Union Capture of Vicksburg and Victory in Battle of Gettysburg (July 1863), Union Victory in Third Battle of Chattanooga (November 1863), Grant's Appointment As Union General-in-chief (March 1864), Union Capture of Atlanta (September 1864), Lincoln's Reelection (November 1864)
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“A turning point in modern history.”
—Robert Frost (1874–1963)
“And nothing I cared, at my sky blue trades, that time allows
In all his tuneful turning so few and such morning songs
Before the children green and golden
Follow him out of grace.”
—Dylan Thomas (1914–1953)
“I have touched the highest point of all my greatness,
And from that full meridian of my glory
I haste now to my setting. I shall fall
Like a bright exhalation in the evening,
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—John Fletcher (1579–1625)
“The Americans are violently oral.... That’s why in America the mother is all-important and the father has no position at all—isn’t respected in the least. Even the American passion for laxatives can be explained as an oral manifestation. They want to get rid of any unpleasantness taken in through the mouth.”
—W.H. (Wystan Hugh)
“At Hayes’ General Store, west of the cemetery, hangs an old army rifle, used by a discouraged Civil War veteran to end his earthly troubles. The grocer took the rifle as payment ‘on account.’”
—Administration for the State of Con, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)
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—Desiderius Erasmus (c. 1466–1536)