Grant

- Born in Ohio - Had a nickname "Sam Grant" - Got married to a girl named Julia - Had 4 kids - Was President from 1868-1872 - Died in 1885

Lee

- Born in Virginia - Went to college in 1825 - 1852-1855 was super intendent at Westpoint - Spent 8 years as an educator

Grant's Plan (Union):

A 3-part plan to: 1. Send a smaller army under General Benjamin F. Butler to land on the coast of Virginia. This army would push towards the Confederate Capital, Richmond. 2. General William Sherman would destroy everything in his way when he led an army into the deep south. His target was Atlanta, an important railroad town. 3. Use his (Grant) largest army (the Potomac) under General George Meade to destroy Lee's Confederate army by following him wherever him and his army would go; they hoped to force him into a battle where he would surrender or be destroyed

Lee's Plan (Confederacy):

He had few choices to fight back against Grant (Union). But some of the things he needed to do were that: 1. He needed to keep huge Union armies away from Richmond 2. Get the Union to fight when they were most likely to suffer or be destroyed (like at forts) He hoped that the bloody battles would cause the Union to stop fighting to save the lives of their soldiers. Lee could not afford to fight huge open battles like Gettysburg because he did not have enough troops to face the Union in a fair fight.

In 1864, General Sherman began his part of the Union plan:

Started by moving south from Tennessee, heading for the Atlantic Ocean (known as the March to the Sea). Grant ordered Sherman to execute total war against the Confederates. This meant that they would destroy everything that could be useful for the enemy (confederacy) including food, equipment, and railroads. Sherman reached Atlanta and surrounded them in a siege. The people of Atlanta eventually surrendered and were ordered to leave before they would eventually burn the city to the ground.

Lincoln ran...

...for president again in 1864, the first ever to do so during a war. His opponent was McClellan, who hoped to prove his worthiness since Lincon fired him and to apologize to the South even if it meant breaking up the Union. He was even ready to restore slavery! All of Sherman's (Union) victories in Atlanta made lots of people feel like the Union was winning. Lincoln WON in a close election against McClellan.