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Uncle Tom’s Cabin is a novel written by Harriet Beecher Stowe. It was published in 1852. Tom was a slave who was being sold at an auction in New Orleans. He saves the life of Eva, whose thankful father buys Tom. However, Eva's health declines rapidly, and before she dies she asks her father to free all the slaves. Before he can do so, he is killed. Tom’s new owner whips Tom to death after he refuses to tell him the whereabouts of certain runaway slaves. This contributed to the start of the war.
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Located in Charleston Harbor, this island fortification was where the first shots of the American Civil War were fired. The battle of Fort Sumter began on April 12, 1861. After 34 hours of artillery fire, Robert Anderson surrendered the fort to the Confederates led by P.G.T. Beauregard. This event marked the beginning of the American Civil War.
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On July 16, 1861, Brig. Gen. Irvin McDowell marched toward the Confederates under Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard. Beauregard’s men defended a railroad junction west of Bull Run Creek. On July 17, McDowell sent a small force to test the Confederate defenses. On July 21, two Union divisions attacked the confederate left flank on Matthews Hill. The Confederates were pushed back. In the afternoon, Confederate reinforcements arrived and fierce battle took place. With no reinforcements, McDowell retreated.
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Brig. Gen. Ulysses Grant decided to capture Fort Donelson after capturing Fort Henry. By February 13, 1862, Grant had surrounded Fort Donelson with 25,000 men. In the next two days, the Union attacked the fort with gunboats and the Confederates had launched a surprise attack that was both unsuccessful. On February 16, Brig. Gen. John B. Floyd and other commanders escaped the fort with Gen. Simon Bolivar Buckner in charge, a pre-war friend of Grant. Later that day, Buckner surrendered the fort.
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On March 8th, 1862 the Confederate C.S.S. Virginia was launched and it sunk two Union ships and ran one aground. Ironclads had strong defense due to their armor plating. The next day, the U.S.S. Monitor arrived at the Chesapeake Bay. It rose from the water only 18 inches with a turret at the center. The battle of the two ironclads began on March 9 and lasted for 4 hours. Eventually, Virginia pulled back to Norfolk. Neither of the ships was severely damaged.
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Confederate Gen. Albert Johnston planned to attack Maj. Gen. Ulysses Grant at Pittsburg Landing. On April 6, the Confederates charged into Union camps who were not prepared. Battle broke out at Shiloh Church, and the Union was forced to retreat to Pittsburg Landing. Brig. Gen. Daniel Ruggles assembled 62 artillery pieces to blast the Union. Johnston was accidentally killed by his men during the attack and P.G.T. Beauregard took charge. On April 7, Grant pushed the Confederates back.
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On April 24, 1862, 43 Union naval ships under Admiral David G. Farragut entered the lower Mississippi near New Orleans and breached chain cables that were stretched across the river as a defense. Confederate General Mansfield Lovell withdrew his 3,000 troops northward and the city fell to the Union on April 25. On May 1, Union General B.F. Butler led 15,000 Union troops into the city to take command for the rest of the war.
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Maj. Gen. Stonewall Jackson burned the Union storage at Manassas Junction on August 27, 1862, and waited for the Union at Bull Run. To draw Union Maj. Gen. John Pope’s army to battle, on the 28th, Jackson launched an attack on one of his forces. The battle lasted several hours and ended in a stalemate. The next day, Pope launched attacks that resulted in mass casualties. At noon Confederate Maj. Gen. James Longstreet arrived and launched a mass counterattack on Pope. The Union was pushed back.
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On September 17, 1862, Union Gen. George McClellan stopped Robert E. Lee from moving North. The Union doubled the number of Confederates. The battle was on a 30-acre cornfield. In 8 hours there were 15,000 casualties. At the center of the battlefield, the 2,600 Confederates were against Maj. Gen. William French’s 5,500. In three hours there were 5,000 dead or injured. This farmland was renamed from Sunken Road to Bloody Lane. The Confederates retreated to Virginia. There were 23,000 casualties.
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In November 1862 Maj. Gen. Ambrose Burnside made plans to cross the Rappahannock River to get to Richmond. On November 17, Burnside reached the river opposite to Fredericksburg. Confederate Robert E. Lee reacted by moving his troops to Fredericksburg. Burnside waited a week for the bridges he needed to cross. On December 12th, Burnside crossed the river and on the next day, he launched a series of attacks. However, they were pushed back by the Confederates and were forced to recross the river.
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On January 1, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. It declared “that all persons held as slaves are, and henceforward shall be free.” However, this policy was limited in many ways. First, it only applied to seceded states or the Confederates. Furthermore, it exempted Confederacy that fell under Northern control. Finally, the freedom it promised depended on Union victory in the war. Although it did not end slavery, it captured the hearts of many.
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April 27, 1863, Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker launched a plan to get Robert E. Lee out of Fredericksburg. On the 30th, Hooker arrived at the crossroads of Chancellorsville 9 miles behind Lee. Lee left a cover force and marched West. On May 1, fighting broke out and Hooker retreated to Chancellorsville. Lee sent Lt. Gen. Stonewall Jackson to attack the right flank of Hooker’s army. The attack was a success but he died. On May 3, Lee pushed Hooker out of Chancellorsville. On May 5, Hooker retreated.
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On May 17, 1863, Maj. Gen. Ulysses Grant ordered Maj Gen. William Sherman to attack Lt Gen. John Pemberton and he pulled back. On May 22, Union artillery fired for 4 hours and Sherman attacked again. They breached the railroad and took prisoners. The Confederates were suffering from low supplies. Grant placed 2,200 pounds of black powder underground. On June 25 it detonated. After more combat, the situation was dire for the Confederates. Grant offered parole and 29,000 soldiers surrendered.
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On July 1st, 1863 Confederate General Robert E. Lee met with Union Major General George G. Meade. This lead to a severe battle. When reinforcements arrived on both sides the next day, Lee tried to attack the Union along their line but failed to remove the defenders. On July 3, Lee tried to attack the Union at Cemetery Ridge but was forced back by heavy casualties. This attack was known as the Pickett’s Charge. It resulted in 51,000 casualties on both sides.
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In September 1863, the Union army retreated to Chattanooga. Confederate Gen. Braxton Bragg launched an attack to cut off supply. Maj Gen. Ulysses Grant refortified the city and opened a supply line. On November 23, The Unions pushed the Confederates back to Missionary Ridge. On November 24, Union Maj Gen. Joseph Hooker captured Lookout Mountain. This allowed the Union to launch their attack. The Union defeated the centerline of the Confederates and they retreated on November 26.
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On May 5, 1864, Gouverneur Warren’s Union V corps attacked Lt Gen. Richard Ewell’s II corps. The fighting shifted south as Lt Gen. A.P. Hill’s III corps engaged with Union Maj Gen. Winfield Hancock’s II Corps and some of Maj Gen. John Sedgwick’s VI Corps for control of Orange Plank Road and Brock Road Intersection. Hancock counterattacked on the 6th. Lt Gen. James Longstreet arrived and launched an attack that drove Hancock back. On May 7, the Union disengaged and moved onto Spotsylvania.
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On May 31, 1864, Union Maj Gen. Philip Sheridan’s cavalry captured Cold Harbor. The roads of Cold Harbor led to Richmond and allowed supply and reinforcements. The next day Sheridan defended it from the Confederates. Reinforcements arrived for both armies and on June 1, Lt. Gen. Ulysses Grant launched an attack. The Union gained ground which led Grant to launch another attack two days later only to be massacred by Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee’s infantry. After a week, Grant disengaged.
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Lt Gen. Ulysses Grant planned to eliminate supply and communication to the Confederate capital. Grant knew Petersburg was the key to capture Richmond. On June 14, 1864, Maj Gen. Benjamin Butler crossed the Appomattox River and attacked Petersburg on June 15. The Union captured sections of the Confederate line. Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard refortified defenses and Gen. Robert E. Lee rushed reinforcements. The Union attacked again on June 18 but was pushed back. This led to a siege on Petersburg.
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Gen. Robert E. Lee arrived in Appomattox county on April 8, 1865. He had hoped to reach the supplies at the South railroads but Union Brig Gen. George Custer burned them before they could reach them. On April 9, Maj Gen. John Gordon attacked the Union Cavalry under Maj Gen. Phil Sheridan. However, he stopped because Gordon realized the overwhelming force of the Union. Lee decided to meet with Ulysses Grant at the Appomattox courthouse to sign the surrender of the Confederates. The war ended.
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President Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth. As the war was ending, Booth planned to kidnap Lincoln and take him to Richmond but Lincoln did not appear where Booth lay in wait, and 2 weeks later, Richmond was captured. Booth and his companions decided to kill Lincoln, Andrew Johnson, and William Seward. Booth learned that Lincoln would attend Ford’s Theatre on April 14. Booth slipped into the box at 10:15 and shot Lincoln at the back of his head. Lincoln died on April 15 at 7:22 am.
