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Period: to
Civil War
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Fort Sumpter
April 13, 1861-April 15, 1861
Confederacy fired on the federal fort first.
Lincoln calls up 75,000 troops.
Border states begin to secede. -
First Bull Run (Manassas)
Thinking the war would be over soon Lincoln ordered General McDowell to attack the Confederates opening the way to Richmond and bringing the war to a quick end. On July 21, 1861 the Union struck first, shelling the rebels across Bull Run. A bunch of civilians had traveled from Washington to watch the battle celebrated a Union victory too soon and pretty soon the Union was retreating straight through them.This battle made everyone realize the war was going to last longer than they had thougt. -
Hampton Roads
This battle, beginning on March 9, 1862 between the Monitor and the Merrimack(CSS Virginia), was the first duel between ironclad warships. The Virginia was salvaged by the South and turned into a warship was said to have looked like a "floating barn's roof." The monitor, the Northern ship, the "Yankee cheese box on a raft" was much more agile, but neither were extremely experienced. The Virginia was successful and the battle ended in a Confederate victory, but it supplied false hope in the end. -
Shiloh
This battle was the second great engagement of the Civil War. On April 6, 1862 Confederates launched a surprise attack on Grant, but after initial success they were unable to hold their ground. Inexperienced troops fought on both sides and there were 23,000 total casualitites. The Union did little more than reoccupy it's camp on April 7, 1862, thus ending the battle of Shiloh with a Union victory and a Confederate failure. -
Antietam
On September 17, 1862 the Union and Confederate forces faced off on the banks of Antietam Creek and Sharpsburg, Maryland. The Union forces found a copy of Lee's plan which helped lead them to victory. There were 10,318 Confederate casualities to the Union's 12,401, but it was still counted as a Union victory. This victory by the Union enabled Lincoln to issue the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation. Also, the pictures of the dead really hit home to many people. -
Fredericksburg
Beginning December 11, 1862 the battle of Fredericksburg was a crushing defeat for the Union. The new Union general, Burnside decided to move troops across the Rappahannock but a misscommunication between him and Henry Halleck, the chief of all Union armies, led reinforcements to be late and the Union army was crushed. This battle led to Burnside's replacement and restoration of confederate morale. -
Chancellorsville
This battle was considered to be Lee's greatest victory in the war. Facing numbers of troops twice his own Lee daringly split his forces in two and attacked the Union. The most intense combat of the battle took place on May 3. There were 17,000 some Union casualities and 12,000 some Confederate casualities, including the great Jackson. A few weeks later Lee was headed to Gettysburg. -
Gettysburg
July 1, 1863, high on adrenaline from the victory at Chancellorsville, Lee begings his march towards Gettyburg with the hopes of an offensive victory in the North. Possibly the bloodiest battle of the war lasted for 3 days. It ended with the infamous Pickett's Charge on July 3, 1863 and a Confederate reatreat. Hopes for foreign help for the Confederacy were dashed and the Union celebrated a great victory. -
Vicksburg
The campaign to takes Vicksburg started in the spring of 1862, but only after two failed siege attempts in the middle of May 1863 did Grant actually settle and use methodical siege tactics to capture Vicksburg. July 4, 1863, the day after the Union win at Gettysburg, Pemberton surrendered the city to Grant due to lack of provisions. This enabled the Union to split the confederacy in half, marking the turning point of the Civil War. -
Chickamauga
The battle over the key railroad center Chattanooga led Union General William Rosecrans to gather 60,000 some troops at Chickamauga, a city 12 miles south. General James Longstreet gathered his own 75,000 troops and both armies met on the banks of Chickamauga creek in the early morning hours on September 19. Longstreet decided to go on the attack and mangaged to get through a gap in the Union line sending them on a chaotic retreat at 11:30am on September 20. The union was safely able to retreat -
Wilderness
Meade was ordered to take his 115,000 troops across the Rapidan River into a strip of land in the South called the Wilderness on May 4th. The battle began on May 5th. Grant's intention was to slip behind Lee's right wing but the Confederates decided to confront the Union troops in the familiar terrain of the Wilderness to make the numbers a little more even. The battle lasted two days and ended inconclusively. There were 17,500 some Union casualities to the 7,000 Confederate casualities. -
Spotsylvania
Major offensive attack beginning May 8, 1864 where the Confederates stalled the Union advance. For 12 days the Spotsylvania Courthouse saw the bloodiest fighting of the war. The Confederate line started to be called the mule shoe because of the way it was set up. The fighting lasted until May 21 when Grant disengaged his troops. The fight was costly and inconclusive. This forced Lee to put his army between the Union and his captial city. -
Sherman's March
Sherman's march began September 2, 1864 when Sherman and his troops captured Atlanta. Once Atlanta was captured the Confederates retreated leaving Sherman to chase them on their march to the sea. Sherman and his army introduced the idea of total war because instead of just conflicts with the other army they destroyed crops, tore up railroads and stole livestock. The idea of total war is to destroy the opposing forces' economy. -
Petersburg
Starting April 1st with the battle of Five Forks, the Confederates began retreating back into Petersburgs' inner lines. The Union successfully beat the Confederates in Petersburg. Lee informed his commander that the two cities could no longer be held and the cities were evacuated. This battle ultimately led to the Confederate surrender on April 9, 1865 -
Lincoln's Assination
After many failed attempts John Wilkes Booth slipped into Ford's Theatre at 10:15 on April 14, 1865 and went up to Lincoln's private booth where he proceeded to shoot Lincoln in the back of the head. He jumped onto the theatre stage and screamed the Virginia state motto and ran away, breaking his leg in the process. A doctor heard his wife's screams and went to try and help, he said it was critial and lincoln would die in the night. The country mourned and Booth and his helpers were hanged.
