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Fort Sumter
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. -
Period: to
Civil War
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First Battle of Bull Run
Over two hours, 10,000 Federals gradually pushed back 4,500 rebels across the Warrington turnpike and up Henry House Hill. By four o'clock in the afternoon, both sides had an equal number of men on the field of battle (about 18,000 on each side were engaged at Bull Run), and Beauregard ordered a counterattack along the entire line. After one last push of the Confederates the Yankees surrendered. -
Hampton Roads
Battle of Hampton Roads was between the Monitor and Merrimack during the American Civil War was history's first duel between ironclad warships. This battle was a Confederate effort to break the Union blockades of Southern ports. This battle had begun a new era of naval warfare. This was a Union victory, but it gave hope that the naval blockade could be broken. -
Shiloh
With General Grant securing key forts in Tennesee, the Confederate generals knew of the forts importance. Using the cover of surprise an army of Confederate soldiers bombarded the fort bringing heavy casualties to both sides about 10,000 men each. Though both sides consider Shiloh a victory the Union was the real victor. They were able to defend forts in key strategic locations from the Southern Rebels, -
Antietam
Antietam was fought along Antietam Creek in Sharpsburg, Maryland. Planning to divide his force, Lee's complex plan fell into the Union's hands. Though the Union failed to capitalize on the Confederate clumsiness Lee withdrew across the river on September 18, suffering 10,318 casualties (of 38,000 engaged) to McClellan's 12,401 (of 75,000). Though the result of the battle was inconclusive, it remains the bloodiest single day in American history, with more than 22,000 casualties. -
Fredericksburg
The Battle of Fredericksburg was a crushing defeat for the Union. One thing that went wrong in this battle was misscommunication, This caused the platoon of soldiers to be delayed. Then General Franklin failed to send 50,000 more troops forward at an oppurtunity. This led to General Jackson to lead a successful counter-attack. -
Battle of Chancellorville
Fought in the Wilderness region of Virginia, Chancellorsville was General Robert E. Lee's greatest defensive victory. General Lee split his army in two surprising the Union general Hooker. Lee's victory came at a high cost, Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, one of his most trusted generals, was mortally wounded by friendly fire during the battle. The Union lost 17,278 casualties compared to the Confederates 12,826 casualties. Lee now had a strategic initiative, which would lead him to Gettysburg. -
Vicksburg
This battle had begun on May 18 when Generl Grant arrived in the rear of Vicksburg, where Pemberton's 30,000 troops were isolated. Two assults in the middle of May failed. After this, Grant had settled down to methodical siege tactics while augmenting his forces. He controlled all the approaches to the city, By June Confederates where desperately short of ammunition and on the brink of starvation. Pemberton surrendered the city on July 4. -
Gettysburg
General Lee decided to invade the North again to gain recognition of the Confederacy by Britain and France. Lee had no idea that the battle of Gettysburg would last 3 days and become a morilizing defeat for the Confederate Army. The Union casualties numbered around 23,000 while the Confederate casualties numbered over 28,000. The Gettysburg defeat erased any possibilities of foreign recognition for the Confederacy. -
Chickamauga
One the first day of the Battle of Chickamauga, General Bragg's men repeatedly attacked the Union, this section was held by a large Union corps led by George Thomas. Thomas held his ground for a while. On September 20, the Confederates caught the Union off gaurd and caused them to retreat, and gave the Confederates a victory. -
Wilderness
This battle began with Confederate corps led by Richard Ewell clashed with the Union's 5th Corps near the Orange Turnpike. The fighting in this battle was brutal. The second day was just as bad as the first. General Longstreet of the Confederates was accidentaly shot in the shoulder by one of his own men. He would soon recover. The Confederates sent wave upon wave attacking the Union. It wasn't until the next morning that they surrendered. -
Spotsylvania
A 12 day battle centered around Spotsylvania Court House. The Confederate Army set up a mule shoe shaped defensive position that was well designed to defeat Union charges. When the line finally broke the Union pushed forward making General Lee get inbetween the Union Army and the Confederate Capitol. There were around 18,000 Union casualties and 11,000 Confederate casualties. -
Siege of Petersburg
Petersburg, an important rail center 23 miles south of Richmond, was a strategic point for the defense of the Confederate capital. General Grant lead the siege against Richmon and Petersburg. Taking until March 25, 1865 General Grant's troops finally pushed back Confederate troops into the inner defenses of Petersburg. Lee reported to President Jefferson Davis that he would be unable to hold the two cities for much longer. Lee surrendered to General Grant on April 9 at Appomattox Court House. -
Sherman's March
General Sherman’s troops had captured Atlanta on September 2, 1864. Atlanta was the industrial center of the Confederacy. So this was a very important win for the Union. The loss for the Confederates hurt. So army headed west into Tennessee and Alabama, Sherman did not want toset off on a wild goose chase across the South. So he decided to split his troops into two groups. Major General George Thomas took some 60,000 men to meet the Confederate army. -
Lincolns Assassination
President Lincoln sits in a private booth in Fords Theatre watching the performance of "Our American Cousin". A man by the name of John Wilkes Booth snuck into the private booth and shot president Lincoln in the back of the head with a .44-caliber single-shot derringer. President Lincoln died at 7:22 a.m. from his injury. This was the first presidential assassination in American history. Lincoln was buried in his hometown of Springfield, Illinois. This led to Andrew Johnson becoming president.
