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Period: to
Civil War
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Fort Sumter
April 12, 1861 to April 14, 1861.
President Lincoln sends a ship to resupply the federal fort. Believing the ship had troops and weapons, the Confederacy fired on the fort. Due to the attack on the fort, Lincoln calls up 75,000 troops and some of the border states, such as Virginia, secede. -
First Bull Run
July 21, 1861
Lincoln ordered General Irvin McDowell to mount an offensive that would hit quicklat the enemy and open the way to Richmond, which would bring the war to a quick end. Confederate reinforcements arrived, even as the Federals struggled with coordinating assaults made by different regiments. the Confederates managed to break the Union line. The Confederates won this battle. -
Shiloh
April 6, 1862 to April 7, 1862.
Confederate generals launched a surprise attack on Ulysses S. Grant's forces in southwestern Tennessee. Both had major losses of 23,000 total casualties. General Grant had taken Fort Henry on the Tennessee River and Fort Donelson on the Cumberland. Both had inexperienced troops. It was a loss for the Confederates. -
Hampton Roads
May 9, 1862.
This battle was the Confederates effort to break the Unions blockade of southern ports. The battle was a very dramatic naval battle. Both crews lacked expierence, and firing was extremely ineffective.The monitor was dissabled by its opponents, as they turned to the Minnesota but they were low in ammunition, and a leak in the bow. That ended the battle, and the South won. -
Antietam
September 17, 1862 to September 18, 1862.
Generals Robert E. Lee and George McClellan faced off near Antietam creek in Sharpsburg, Maryland. It was America's bloodiest day in history. McClellan found a copy of lost plans and that brought advantages for him and his troops. Fought by the Potomac River. Lee withdrew suffering 10,318 casualties to McClellan's 12,401. The Union won and issued the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation. -
Fredericksburg
November 7, 1862 to December 13, 1862.
The Battle of Fredericksburg was a crushing defeat for the Union. There was mismanagement by their generals and confused orders from Burnside to Franklin. Franklin was unable to send 50,000 more troops forward. The Union lost nearly 13,000 while the Confederates fewer than 5,000. -
Chancellorsville
April 30, 1863 to May 6, 1863.
Known as General Robert E. Lee's greatest victory. The Union had twice the amount of eneny force of the Confederacy. Daringly Lee split his troops in two. Joseph Hooker was forced to retreat across the Rappahannock River. On May 2, Jackson and 30,000 men followed a circuitous route that brought them against Hooker's weak right flank. Jackson's attack was a great success which destroyed half of Hooker's line. -
Gettysburg
July 1, 1863 to July 3, 1863
Lee decided to go on the offensive and invade the North. One of the Confederate divisions approached Gettysburg in search of supplieson July 1, only to find that two Union cavalry brigades had arrived the previous day. Both armies suffered extremely heavy losses on July 2. Union casualties in the battle numbered 23,000, while the Confederates had lost 28,000 men, which is more than a third of the army. -
Siege of Vicksburg
Spring of 1862 to July 4 1863.
Lies on Mississippi River. Vicksburg is the key remaining point for the Confederacy of the river. If the North could take control of Vicksburg, it would isolate those Confederate states that lay west of the river from those in the east. On May 18 Grant arrived in Vicksburg, where Pemberton's 30,000 troops were isolated. Confederates were short of ammunition and were starving which forced them to surrender the city on July 4. -
Chickamauga
September 19, 1863 to September 20, 1863.
Union and Confederate forces were struggling over control of the key railroad center of Chattanooga, Tennessee. General William Rosecrans had pushed Bragg's Army out of Chattanooga. 10 Confederate generals had been killed in this battle. Altogether there were 36,000 casualities on both the Union and Confederate side. This battle being the most costly in the war's western theatre. Thomas helped Grant's forces reverse the results of Chickamauga with a deci -
Siege of Petersburg
June 9, 1864 to April 9, 1864.
Grant had crossed the Petersburg–Weldon Railroad and captured Fort Harrison. Confederates were exhausted and immobilized due to the lack of animals. Lee was left with 50,000 troops as opposed to Grant's 120,000 because Confederates were driven back at the Battle of Fort Stedman. Lee surrendered to Grant. Confederates were defeated. -
Wilderness
May 5, 1864 to May 7, 1864.
The war began when Confederate corps led by Richard Ewell clashed with the Union's 5th Corps near the Orange Turnpike, the region's principal east-west road. Confederates shot their own men in the shoulder by accident.Union troops held their ground when the rebels renewed the attack. Union suffered more than 17,500 casualties, almost 7,000 more than the Confederates. The Battle of the Wilderness ended inconclusively. -
Spotsylvania
May 8, 1864 to May 21, 1864.
Ulysses S. Grant orders the Army of the Potomac to march south to get between General Lee's Army. They were heading for Spotsylvania Court House. The rebels advance. For 12 days they fought. Some 18,000 Union and 11,000 Confederate casualties.The Confederates built a huge salient. General Philip Sheridan's troops outnumbered the rebels. Lee's army was split in half at the"Bloody Angle".Lee had to to maneuver his army in between the enemy and the Confederate capital. -
Sherman's March to the Sea
September 2, 1864 to April 1865.
The confederate split the troops into two groups. General George Thomas took some 60,000 men to Nashville, while Sherman took the remaining 62,000 through Georgia to Savannah. The Union soldiers raided farms and plantations. The Confederacy finally surrendered. -
Lincoln's Assassination
Was supposed to happen on March 20, 1865, actually happened on April 14, 1865.
John Booth planned to kidnap Lincoln on March 20, 1865 in Richmond, Virginia. Lincoln didn't show up the day of the kidnapping, Richmond soon fell to Union forces. On April 14, Lincoln went to see a performance in Ford's Theatre in Washington D.C. At 10:15, Lincoln was shot in the back of the head by John Wilkes Booth. Booth quickly escaped on horseback. Lincoln was pronounced dead at 7:22 a.m.
