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 July 4, 1863 was a good day for the federals during the ACW.

In Pennsylvania, the Army of Northern Virginia began it's retreat to Virginia...and the odds of it returning intact were not very good.  However, the Union forces had suffered every bit as much as their foes and an energetic pursuit just wasn't going to happen.

This was the second of three invasions of the north by Lee's forces.  Its importance as the war's turning point would not be interpreted as such for a while.  The war still had another two years to go.

July 4 saw the end of the Tullahoma Campaign, where William Rosecrans' Army of the Cumberland had driven  the Confederate Army of Tennessee from that state.  While of major importance to the final conclusion of the war, it has been largely forgotten because it was a campaign of brilliant maneuvering with no major battles.  Rosecrans complained it was ignored because it was not "written in blood".

Perhaps the most important news that day was the surrender of Vicksburg on the Mississippi River.  Vicksburg had been a target for the Union for the better part of a year, in the newspapers every day.  Whereas the general public had never heard of Gettysburg, opening up the Mississippi River was seen as a major accomplishment.  Of course, it made Grant the man of the hour.




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