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Article: Controlling inland rivers.(United States Civil War)
- Article from:
- Cobblestone
- Article date:
- January 1, 2009
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2009 Carus Publishing Co. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Control of America's inland rivers helped shape the Civil War--and ultimately pointed the way toward a Union victory. These waterways, located in what was at that time the country's western interior, between the Appalachian Mountains and the Mississippi River, quickly became strategically important during the war. If Union forces could defeat the Confederates along the Cumberland and Tennessee rivers, for instance, then they could use those waterways to-travel into the heart of the South. And Union control of the Mississippi River would split Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas, all on the west side of the river, from the rest of the Confederacy.
Soon after the war ...