Assessing Lincoln’s Role in the Gettysburg and Vicksburg Campaigns

One hundred and sixty years ago in early July, and over one thousand miles apart, the critically important battles of Gettysburg and Vicksburg were fought. Their lengthy campaigns, results, and aftermath largely determined the outcome of the Civil War. From distant Washington DC, Abraham Lincoln had already made the calculations and decisions that had put Ulysses Grant and George Meade in charge with the authority and tools to empower their success. With the victories in hand, Lincoln made sure that the nation honored the generals and the soldiers they led with full credit for the triumphs.

But Lincoln himself played the vital leadership role in arranging the strategic elements to assure that talented generals could secure the laurels. His methods were often little better than correctives after trial and error. But without military command experience of his own and with a panoply of contradictory opinions from purported experts, Lincoln was able…