Northerners refused to allow blacks to join the union army at the start of the war because they believed they could not fight. a. true b. false the 54th massachusetts regiment did not change northern attitudes about blacks' ability to fight. a. true b. false during the civil war, the north effectively used the strategy of "total war" to weaken the south. a. true b. false hoping that the yankees would beg for peace if he could beat them on their home ground, general lee decided to move the fighting north. a. true b. false at gettysburg, the southern army was successful using the old-fashioned military tactic of fighting in a long, deep formation. a. true b. false when union forces gained control of vicksburg, that meant they gained control of the mississippi river, which became a turning point in the civil war. a. true b. false two union victories—gettysburg and vicksburg—were a turning point in the war by showing that robert e. lee was beatable and by giving the north a strategic win. a. true b. false in the gettysburg address, lincoln did not clarify the north's reasons for fighting the war or express his faith in democratic values. a. true b. false