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Fort Sumter
Fort Sumter, under the control of Major Robert Anderson, was really of no value to the Union. It was incomplete and its weapons pointed to sea. However, it was symbolic to the Union's existence and represented unity. On April 12, 1861, the Confederacy opened fire on Fort Sumter when the Union was under the impression that supply ships were coming. After 34 hours of fighting, Major Anderson was forced to surrender. This was the first battle to ignite the flame of the Civil War. -
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Civil War
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First Bull Run
On July 21, 1861, Union forces made an attempt to take out the Confederates’ left flank while more troops tried to cross the river at Sudley Ford. In a two hour span, 10,000 Federals pushed 4,500 rebels across the Warrington Turnpike. That afternoon, while both sides had approximately 9,000 men on the field per group, General Beauregard launched a counterattack on the entire line. This battle drove home the idea that the war would not be easily settled. -
Hampton Roads
The Battle of Hampton Roads often referred to as the Battle of the Monitor and Merrimack. This battle was a part of the effort of the Confederacy to break the Union blockade, which cut off Virginia’s largest cities. This battle was inconclusive. Hampton Roads ended the 9th of March would be the next day. -
Shiloh
The Battle of Shiloh (also known as the Battle of Pittsburg Landing) was the second large battle of the Civil War. On April 6, 1862, a surprise attack was launched on General Ulysses S. Grant’s forces by Confederate troops in southwestern Tennessee. Though they started out successfully, the Confederates were not able to stand their ground, resulting in a Union victory. Both sides faced devastating losses due to the 23,000 casualties that occurred. -
Lincoln's Assassination
His assassination occurred five days after the commanding General of the Army of Northern Virginia, Robert E. Lee, and his battered Army of the Potomac. Lincoln was the first American president to be assassinated. John Wilkes Booth killed our famous president. -
Siege of Vicksburg
After several failures, General Ulysses S. Grant conceived a daring plan to take over the city of Vicksburg. Vicksburg was point of the Confederates’ defense of the Mississippi River. From May to June of 1862, the Union launched an expedition to intercept the Confederates, but failed. On May 3, they reached Grand Gulf. Then, they were able to stop a small Confederate army from joining Vicksburg’s forces. On May 18, Grant began his siege of the city, but Vicksburg did not surrender until July 4. -
Antietam
The Battle of Antietam was the first battle fought on Northern soil and occurred in Sharpsburg, Maryland. It was fought by generals Robert E. Lee and George McClellan's troops. Its result was totally inconclusive and it remains the single bloodiest day in American history because 22,000 lives were lost. -
Fredericksburg
This battle was one of the largest and deadliest of the Civil War. It also was one of the first major opposed rivers crossing in American military history. After six weeks after the Battle of Fredericksburg, President Lincoln removed Burnside from command of the Army of the Potomac. This battle ended the 15th of December. -
Battle of Chancellorsville
Chancellorsville was a major battle of the American Civil War, and the engagement of the Chancellorsville Campaign. The Chancellorsville Campaign began with the crossing of the Rappahannock River by the Union army on the morning of April 27, 1863. The fiercest fighting of any battle, and the second bloodiest day of the Civil War, which occurred of May 3, as Lee launched multiple attacks on the Union. This battle ended on May 6, 1863. -
Gettysburg
General Robert E. Lee concentrated his full strength again Maj. General George G. Meade’s Army of the Potomac at the crossroads county seat of Gettysburg, which will be known as the Battle of Gettysburg. On July 1, Confederate forces converged on the town from west to north, which drove the Union defenders back through the streets to Cemetery Hill. July 4, Lee began withdrawing his army toward Williamsport on the Potomac River, thus concludes the Battle of Gettysburg, July 3rd. -
Chickamauga
On the morning of September 19, 1863, the armies of Confederate Generals, Longstreet and Bragg, met the Union troops of General Rosecrans on the banks of Chickamauga Creek in Chattanooga. Delayed by requests from future-president James Polk, Longstreet was finally able to advance on the Union’s army on September 20th. There were heavy losses on both sides, close to 20,000 for the Confederates and 16,000 for the Union. This battle was an ultimate success for the Union. -
Wilderness
The Battle of the Wilderness began when Confederate troops led by Richard Ewell ran into the Union’s troops near the Orange Turnpike. On May 6, the troops continued to fight for a second day in a row. The Union was able to then march to Brock Road so they could hold their ground. By the third day, Grant still refused to retreat. Though the Battle of the Wilderness ended in a stalemate, it weakened the Confederates’ troops, but kept them moving toward Richmond. -
Spotsylvania
This battle was the second major battle in Lt. General Ulysses S. Grant’s 1864 Overland Campaign of the American Civil War. Grant’s army disengaged from Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s army and moved to the southeast. In the end, the battle was tactically inconclusive. This battle ended May 21st. -
Siege of Petersburg
Petersburg was an important railway center south of Richmond. On June 9, 1864, the Union army started an attack on the two cities. The siege was still going strong by the year’s end when Robert E. Lee was still holding Richmond and Petersburg. On April 9, 10 months after the initial attacks, the battle was officially ended when General Joseph E. Johnston surrendered to General Grant at the Appomattox Court House. This officially ended the Civil War. -
Sherman's March to the Sea
This name is commonly given to the Savannah Campaign conducted around Georgia. Maj. General William Tecumseh Sherman of the Union Army in the American Civil War, which started with Sherman’s troops leaving the captured city of Atlanta, Georgia. David J. Eicher destroyed much of the South’s potential and psychology to wage war. -
Sherman's March to the Sea
Leaving Georgia, and ready to take the Savannah.
