Shoes...

After Chancellorsville, Lincoln was pretty distraught, so distraught, he threw his hat.



He told Hooker to follow Lee's troops, but Hooker decided to take a page out of Ol' McClellan's book and drag his feet.

While he was wasting time, Confederate troops marched into Pennsylvania.



With Lee and the Confederates in Pennsylvania, Lincoln got rid of Hooker, next in command would be General George Meade.



Remember Cinderella? She had an evil stepmother, horrible step sisters, and animals that made her a dress. Long story short....she went to a ball, had to be back by midnight, or she'd turn into a pumpkin or something. She met the Prince, he was like "Dang girl, you got it going on". The clock was about to turn twelve, she was like "ohh no...I must flee into the night". She runs off the prince follows and she randomly loses a shoe, a glass slipper to be precise. The Prince took the slipper and decided that he would make every girl in the kingdom try on the shoe until he found who owned it, because there would never be any possibility of more than one person having the same shoe size. Anyway.....

So eventually, after some lame shenanigans performed by evil step mother and step sisters, Cinderella tries on the shoe and it fits, they live happily ever after....



So, now that I've rambled about Cinderella, you are probably wondering what is the point? How does this have anything to do with the Civil War?

Well, a pair of shoes changed Cinderella's life and the biggest battle of the Civil war occured, because of Shoes.



The Confederates knew there was a stock pile of shoes in Pennsylvania. They really needed them, so they set out to get them, hoping that when they got there they wouldn't have to deal with the ridiculousness of a Shoe Carnival store.



Luckily, it was not a Shoe Carnival, but, that was as far as their luck went, they didn't realize the entire Army of the Potomac was right behind them..and they would meet...in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

Hello Hooker, Goodbye Jackson.

Alright...the Emancipation Proclamation has been passed, General Burnside lost a battle...where are we now? Luckily for you reader, I KNOW!

After the ol' Burnside mishap of taking his troops and charging them directly at the Confederate troops no less than 14 times, Lincoln was looking for a new general.



The next general in line was Joseph Hooker, he was kind of a drunk.

He met Lee's army near Chancellorsville. The plan was to outflank Lee, this didn't work. Lee sent ol' Stonewall Jackson to outflank Hooker and his men.


Even though the Union outnumbered the Confederates two to one, the Confederates won the battle, but, it cost them a lot. Lee lost 13,000 men, and.....Stonewall Jackson. He was hit by fire from his own men. Lee was at a loss.



Even though the loss of Jackson was devastating for Lee, he knew what had to be done. A move so bold, a move so daring, he would have to attack the North!

Emancipation Procolomation

The war was raging, the country was still split, and thousands were dead.

Lincoln needed something, he wanted support from abroad, he needed a feel good sentiment, he needed something great. Whatever it was, he knew it had to be BIG.


He thought and he thought...and then....




Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation!

This freed the slaves in the Confederate States, IN YOUR FACE, CONFEDERACY!!!

After this, the slaves were free...or were they?

No...not really. First, the Confederate states were not under the authority of Lincoln, their president was Jefferson Davis.



Second, we have the Boarder States, remember them? Well..you should....but, if you don't, these were the states still in the Union that had slaves. Were they free? No...

What about the areas in the South that were under Union control...were they free? No, they weren't either.

Well, I guess its the the thought that counts.



Side Note!!!!!

After this was issued many freed blacks became soldiers. There were around 180,000 black soldiers in the Union Army. One very famous regiment was the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry....they were from Massachusetts.

They fought valiantly at Fort Wagner, South Carolina.

To learn more about this regiment, watch Glory, starring Matthew Broderick, Denzel Washington, and the always fantastic, Morgan Freeman!