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Fort Sumter
On April 12, 1861 seven Southern states had seceded from the Union, Only 2 forts in the south remained in Union control. Fort Sumter was one of those forts and it was attacked by the Confederates as it was in Charleston, South Carolina, one of the states that had already seceded. The Confederate troops conquered the fort on April 14 when the Union troops retreated, the fort was largely reduced to rubble due to constant bombardment from July 1863 to February 1865. -
Period: to
Civil War
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First Battle of Bull Run
This is the first battle after the attack on Fort Sumter. It was a victory for the Confederate troops but they were far too disorganized to use their advantage and purse the North who retreated. It was also when both sides realized that it was going to be a very long war. -
Antietam
Antietam was the first battle of the war that took place on northern ground. This was a Union victory and provided the political cover for President Lincoln to issue his Emancipation Proclamation. It also remains the bloodiest single day in American history with more than 22,000 deaths. -
Hampton Roads
A battle between the Merrimack (renamed the Virginia by the South) and the Monitor was the first duel between ironclad warships in history. The southern ship tried to break through the Union blockade around Norfolk and Richmond, Virginia. It succeeded in taking out the Monitor but gave the South false hope towards breaking through the blockade elsewhere. Although the Virginia succeeded in breaking through, the battle is looked at as a victory for the North -
Shiloh
From April 6 and April 7, 1862 the battle of Shiloh was one of the more known battles of the Civil War. Confederate generals launched a surprise attack on Ulysses S. Grant and his forces in southwestern Tennessee. The Union troops came out victorious while both sides lost around 10,000 troops each, although, both sides declared victory the Confederates had lost. -
Fredericksburg
The battle of Fredericksburg started on December 13, 1862 when Burnside attacked the right side of Lee’s troops with his own left side. Franklin failed to send 50,000 troops forward when he had an opportunity and lost the battle for the Union. The Union lost about 13,000 soldiers while the Confederates lost only 5,000 or less. -
Chancellorsville
From April 30 to May 6, 1863 the battle of Chancellorsville raged. The battle was fought in the Wilderness region of Virginia, and it was a very large battle. Lee commanding the Confederate army was attacked from behind by Hooker. “Stonewall” Jackson was mortally wounded by friendly fire during this battle and the Union retreated when they lost 17,278 troops while the Confederates lost only 12,826. -
Gettysburg
The battle of Gettysburg was the farthest north that the Confederates would go during the entire war. The total death toll for both sides combined was over 51,000 soldiers. It has been looked at as one of the battles that turned the tide of the war in the unions favor. -
Siege of Vicksburg
After failed attempts at captures of the key point to defense of the Mississippi River at Vicksburg, General Ulysses Grant surrounds the city and forces Confederate General John C. Pemberton to surrender after two months of isolation and encapturement. Pemberton surrendered the day after the Union won at Gettysburg making it one of the most important moves in the war and led to the defeat of the South. It was also when Ulysses Grant proved his military genius. -
Wilderness
In February 1864, President Abraham Lincoln appointed Ulysses S. Grant as commander in chief of all Union armies in the civil war. Union and Confederate soldiers faced each other across the Rapidan River in Northern Virginia. Grant refused to retreat even though the Union army had lost a whopping 17,500 soldiers and the Confederates had only lost 7,000. -
Spotsylvania
From May 5 through to May 21, 1864 the battle of Spotsylvania was fought by Lee and Grant. The Union soldiers continued trying to flank the Confederates, they failed on all the attempts. Grant never retreated and continued to attack the Confederates while they continually maneuvered to block Grant. -
Sherman's March to the Sea
Sherman marched from Atlanta to Savannah from September 2, 1864 to December 21, 1864. He had conquered Atlanta when the Confederates retreated from it, then he marched toward Savannah burning everything in his way. His march succeeded in hurting Confederate morale which was his original goal. -
Siege of Petersburg
Petersburg was an important rail center just south of Richmond and was one of the two cities still under control of the Confederates at this point. The last year of the war was dominated by General Grant and his Union forces. Once the Confederate defenders were forced back into the inner walls of Petersburg, General Lee informed Jefferson Davis of the siege and that neither Petersburg nor Richmond could be held any longer. A week later Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox court house officiall -
Lincoln's Assassination
President Lincoln was assassinated at Ford’s theatre by John Wilkes Booth. Booth’s reasoning behind this was to throw the U.S. government into disarray which did not prove right. Booth jumped from Lincoln’s balcony to the stage and fled. He was captured 12 days later in a farmhouse in Virginia where he was shot. Lincoln was the first American president to be assassinated and had a long lasting impact on the country.
