<P> Gettysburg was the first major defeat suffered by Lee . The three - day battle witnessed Union forces decisively repel his second invasion of the North and inflicted serious casualties on his Army of Northern Virginia . In fact , the National Park Service marks the point at which Pickett 's Charge collapsed , a copse of trees on Cemetery Ridge , as the high - water mark of the Confederacy -- the northernmost point reached by any major Confederate military incursion . From this point onward , Lee attempted no more strategic offensives . Although two more years of fighting and a new , more aggressive general - in - chief ( Grant ) was required to fully subdue the rebellion , the Army of the Potomac gained an indomitable initiative at Gettysburg that makes the eventual end at Appomattox Court House in 1865 seem inevitable in hindsight . While Gettysburg was seen by military and civilian observers at the time as a great battle , those in the North had little idea that two more bloody years would be required to finish the war . Lincoln was distraught at Meade 's failure to intercept Lee 's retreat , believing that to have done so would have ended the conflict . </P>
<P> Gettysburg was the first major defeat suffered by Lee . The three - day battle witnessed Union forces decisively repel his second invasion of the North and inflicted serious casualties on his Army of Northern Virginia . In fact , the National Park Service marks the point at which Pickett 's Charge collapsed , a copse of trees on Cemetery Ridge , as the high - water mark of the Confederacy -- the northernmost point reached by any major Confederate military incursion . From this point onward , Lee attempted no more strategic offensives . Although two more years of fighting and a new , more aggressive general - in - chief ( Grant ) was required to fully subdue the rebellion , the Army of the Potomac gained an indomitable initiative at Gettysburg that makes the eventual end at Appomattox Court House in 1865 seem inevitable in hindsight . While Gettysburg was seen by military and civilian observers at the time as a great battle , those in the North had little idea that two more bloody years would be required to finish the war . Lincoln was distraught at Meade 's failure to intercept Lee 's retreat , believing that to have done so would have ended the conflict . </P>
where did the confederacy surrender to the union
where did the confederacy surrender to the union
Appomattox Court House
Appomattox Court House