There is a great deal of contradiction about the defining moment of the American Civil War. The thought of a decisive moment is an occasion after which most eyewitnesses could agree that the possible conclusion was inevitable. Although the Battle of Gettysburg is the most commonly cited, often mixed in with the Battle of Vicksburg, there are a few other uncertain defining moments in the American Civil War. On July 4, 1863, the major Confederate fortification at Vicksburg, Mississippi, surrendered to General Ulysses S. Grant. The previous day, General George Meade had decisively defeated Robert E. Lee at Gettysburg. These two occasions are often called decisive moments of the entire war. The misfortune of Vicksburg separates the Confederacy, preventing its control of reclaiming the Mississippi River and preventing the eastward passage of supplies from Texas and Arkansas that could support the war effort. . As President Abraham Lincoln had expressed it: "See what a considerable portion of territory these fellows hold, of which Vicksburg is the key! The war can never be concluded until that sum is in our pockets... We can take all the northern ports of the Confederacy and can resist us from Vicksburg." The thousands of soldiers who "resigned" from the war were a major misfortune for voter turnout. Gettysburg was Lee's first significant defeat. He repelled his second attack on the North and caused major setbacks for the Army of Northern Virginia. To be sure, the National Park Service points to the moment Pickett's Charge tore down the hedge of trees on Cemetery Ridge as a high-water mark of the Confederacy. From here, Lee attempted no more key offensives. Despite the... middle of the paper... the quality of forcing an undeniably tight barricade. The Union was further supported by the way four slave states – Delaware, Missouri, Maryland, and Kentucky – remained loyal to the Union. Nor were all individuals in the 11 Confederate states focused on the Confederate reason. Pockets of Unionism existed, particularly in the Appalachian Mountains. Slaves were also a potential fifth segment. Throughout the war there was a steady stream of blacks fleeing to the Union forces. The North first transformed its own work and inevitably its military work into a stake of the Union. This argument is dubious, as not everyone would recognize that the predominant Union resources were the primary reason for the Confederate defeat. Many call for the Confederacy to lose – rather than the Union win – the Civil War. The Confederacy has collapsed or been crushed?