... capture of Forts  Henry  and  Donelson, and the Confederate surrender at the latter, were the first significant Union victories and the start of a mostly successful campaign in the western theater. Ulysses S. Grant completed both actions by February 16, 1862, and by doing so, opened the Tennessee and  Cumberland Rivers  as Union supply lines and avenues of invasion to Tennessee,  Mississippi, and ... other turning point was Union capture of Vicksburg and victory in Battle of Gettysburg. On July 4, 1863, the most important  Confederate  stronghold on the  Mississippi River, Vick...

• Word Count: 1217
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... initiate a reconstruction policy in May of 1865. This policy would see many different changes over nearly the next decade, but saw most during the earlier years. In 1868 under Republican Ulysses S. Grant, the Fourteenth Amendment was passed in order to help deal with the many problems during the reconstruction era; such as the readmission of states into the Union, slavery and ... ...

• Word Count: 899
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: Undergraduate