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Fort sumter
Where: charleston, south carolina
Date: april 12 -14, 1861
Main generals: P.G.T. Beauregard, major robert anderson,
Outcome: the harbor at charleston had been preceded by months after the bombing
Importance: the first battle of the american civil war -
1st battle of bull run
Where: prince william county, virginia
Date: july 21, 1861
Main generals: brig. Gen. irvin mcdowell
Outcome: resulted in a confederate victory
Importance: the first major land battle of the armies in virginia -
new orleans
Where: new orleans
Date: january 8, 1862
Main generals: maj. Andrew jackson
Outcome: americans win british forces withdraw
Importance: last major battle of the war of 1812 -
Ft. Henry
Where: western middle tennessee
Date: feb. 6, 1862
Main generals: ulysses s. Grant
Outcome: union wins
Importance: first important victory for the union -
Ft. donelson
Where: stewart county tennessee
Date: feb. 11 - 16, 1862
Main generals: ulysses s. Grant
Outcome: union wins
Importance: an important avenue for the invasion of the south -
Shiloh
Where: southwestern tennessee
Date: april 6 - 7, 1862
Major generals: don carlos buell, ulysses s. Grant, albert sidney johnston, P.G.T. Beauregard
Outcome: union forces won
Importance: union victory gave tennessee to the north -
Chattanooga
Where: chattanooga tennessee
Date: june 7 - 8, 1862
Main generals: william s. Rosecrans’
Outcome: union victory
Importance: union victory forced confederates back into georgia ending the siege of the vital railroad -
Seven days
Where: richmond virginia
Date: june 25 - july 1, 1862
Main generals: robert e. Lee and george b. mcClellan
Outcome: confederate forces drove back union forces
Importance: union army captured virginia -
Murfreesboro
Where: rutherford county, tennessee
Date: july 13, 1862
Main generals: gen. Nathan bedford forrest
Outcome: confederates destroyed much of the unions supplies and destroyed railroad track in the area
Importance: the primary consequence was a diversion of union forces from a drive on chattanooga -
2nd battle of bull run
Where: prince william county virginia
Date: August 28 - 30, 1862
Major generals: john pope, robert e. Lee, stonewall jackson
Outcome: union victory
Importance: more than 20,000 men fell as casualties -
Antietam
Where: sharpsburg maryland
Date: sep. 17, 1862
Main generals: robert e. Lee and george b. mcClellan
Outcome: union victory 23,000 casualties
Importance: bloodiest single day battle in american history -
Fredericksburg
Where: virgina
Date: dec 11 - 15, 1862
Main generals: robert e. Lee and Ambrose burnside
Outcome: confederate victory
Importance: lopsided defeat for the union forces -
Chancellorsville
Where: spotsylvania county, virginia
Date: april 30 - may 6, 1863
Main generals: joseph hooker, stonewall jackson, robert e. Lee
Outcome: confederate victory
Importance: major confederate victory -
Vicksburg
Where: warren county, mississippi
Date: may 18 - july 4, 1863
Main generals: gen. Ulysses s. Grant and lt. Gen. john pemberton
Outcome: vicksburg surrendered after prolonged siege operations
Importance: a culmination of one of the most brilliant military campaigns of the war -
Gettysburg
Where: pennsylvania
Date: july 1 - 3, 1863
Main generals: george meade, robert e. Lee
Outcome: confederate victory
Importance: considered the most important engagement in the civil war -
Wilderness
Where: virginia
Date: may 5 - 7 1864
Main generals: ulysses s. Grant, robert e. Lee, george meade
Outcome: confederate army pushed back union
Importance: marked the first time in civil war that the potomac continued on the offensive -
Cold harbor
Where: richmond, virginia
Date: may 31 - june 12 1864
Main generals: george meade, robert e. Lee, ulysses s. Grant
Outcome: robert e. Lee’s army wins
Importance: one of the most brutal confrontations of the war -
Atlanta
Where: atlanta georgia
Date: july 22, 1864
Main generals: joseph e. Johnston, william j. Hardee, john bell hood, james b mcpherson
Outcome: union wins
Importance: union defeated confederate forces defending the city under john b. Hood -
Fayetteville, NC
Where: hoke county
Date: march 10, 1865
Main generals: john hoke
Outcome: confederate forces ambushed the union while they were sleeping -
Bentonville
Where: north carolina
Date: march 19 - 21 1865
Main generals: braxton bragg, P.G.T beauregard, joseph e. Johnston, william tecumseh sherman
Outcome: confederates win
Importance: last battle between the union and confederate forces