The Confederate fall at Vicksburg and the Union won at Gettysburg were huge wins and the Union was pretty convinced the end was near but it was all a false hope. There was a lot of hard fighting ahead.

The capture of Atlanta was a major morale boost to the Union and had the opposite affect on the South. This led to Lincoln being re-elected which ended an option for a settled truce. Most people then realised it was just a matter of time.

But the Eastern theatre got bloodier and remained extremely bloody beyond hopes. Lee’s army was entrenched and couldn’t be destroyed and Richmond still wasn’t captured.

Lincoln and Grant were resolute but it seemed the War might need to continue for quite a while at those high costs. With a bloodbath going on, Northerners were not optimistic about the slow progress towards Richmond.

Finally, the end came pretty quickly. Petersburg and Richmond were taken within a short timeframe. Lee went on the run and a third of his army was cut down by Sheridan. Sheridan closed the last door where Lee could escape. He was surrounded and would be destroyed. So, he surrendered at that site, Appomattox.

That sealed the deal for the other big Confederate army. Soon afterward, Joe Johnston surrendered a very large army to Sherman without a fight.