1862 started off well for the Union. As the year progressed, their hopes were dashed as the Confederates bested the Army of the Potomac at the gates of Richmond, Virginia, and at the end of the year in front of Fredericksburg. Even with a new commander, Ambrose Burnside, Robert E. Lee proved to be an impressive opponent. In the west, even though Bragg's raid into Kentucky had been pushed back, despite wrestling some border states from the Confederacy, Union efforts had stalled along the Mississippi River and in the mountains of Tennessee. Perhaps 1863 would be decisive?

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