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The primary goal of the Union Army in the west was to control the Mississippi River. This would separate Texas and Arkansas from the remainder of the Confederacy, deny this trade and supply route to the South while opening it for Union resupply.

North of Saint Louis, the river was quickly in Union hands. New Orleans also fell early in the war. The last major point of resistance was Vicksburg, Mississippi, which was placed under siege and finally fell on July 3, 1863, the same day that Lee began to retreat from Gettysburg.

The Union Army had additional goals in the West: Keep Kentucky in the Union, support the pro-Union forces in Missouri and keep that state in the Union, and place pressure on Tennessee in order to force the Confederacy to divert substantial forces away from the Army of Northern Virginia. All of these goals were met by 1863.

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15y ago

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