s in Virginia.]

3. Lincoln freed the slaves by virtue of his power as commander in chief
of the army of the United States, "and as a fit and necessary
war measure."

%442. The Battle of Gettysburg.%--After Burnside was defeated at
Fredericksburg, in December, 1862, he was removed, and General Hooker
put in command of the Army of the Potomac. Hooker--"Fighting Joe," as he
was called--led it against Lee, and (May 1-4, 1863) was beaten at
Chancellorsville and fell back. In June Lee again took the offensive,
rushed down the Shenandoah valley to the Potomac, crossed Maryland, and
entered Pennsylvania, with the Army of the Potomac in pursuit. On
reaching Maryland, Hooker was removed and General Meade put in command.
The opposing forces met on the hills at Gettysburg, Penn., and there,
July 1-3, Lee attacked Meade. The contest was a dreadful one; no field
was ever more stubbornly fought over. About one fourth of the men
engaged were killed or wounded. But the splendid courage of the Union
army prevailed: Lee was beaten and retired to Virginia, where he
remained unmolested till the spring of 1864. Gettysburg is regarded as
the greatest battle of the war, and the Union regiments engaged have
taken a just pride in marking the positions they held during the three
awful days of slaughter, till the field is dotted all over with
beautiful monuments. On the hill back of the village is a great
national cemetery, at the dedication of which Lincoln delivered his
famous Gettysburg address.

[Illustration: Part of the battlefield of Gettysburg]

%443. Vicksburg%.--The day after the victory at Gettysburg, the joy
of the North was yet more increased by the news that Vicksburg had
surrendered (July 4) to Grant. After the defeat, of the Confederate
forces at Iuka and Corinth in 1862, the Confederate line passed across
northern Mississippi, touched the river from Vicksburg to Port Hudson,
and then swept off to the Gulf. As the capture of these river towns
would complete the opening of the Mississippi, Grant set out to take
Vicksburg. Failing in a direct advance through Mississippi, Grant sent a
strong force down the river from Memphis, and later took command in
person. Vicksburg stands on the top of a bluff which rises steep and
straight 200 feet above the river, and had been so fortified that to
capture it seemed impossible. But Grant was determined to open the
river. On the west bank, he cut a canal through a bend, hoping to divert
the