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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
Start: July 21, 1861 End: July 22, 1861
Reporters, congressmen, and other onlookers who had traveled from Washington and were watching the battle from the nearby countryside prematurely celebrated a Union victory. However reinforcements soon arrived rally the confederate troops. Despite their win, Conferedate trrops were far too disorganized to press their advantage and puruse the retreating Yankees. -
Hampton Roads
Start: March 9, 1862 End: March 9, 1862
Union ironclad Monitor was under the command of Lieutenant John Worden. Commodore Franklin Buchanan was in command of the northern built Merrimack. Both crews lacked necassary training. Firing was ineffective for the Virginia but after additional action and reloading, the Monitor's pilothouse was hit. Virginia's spectactular success had raised the false hope that the Union blockade might be broken. -
Shihloh
Apr. 6-7, 1862
Confederate generals launched a surprise attack on Ulysses S. Grant's forces in southwestern TN. After initial successes, the Confederates were unable to hold their positions resulting in a Union victory. Since Union troops were planning an offensive, they had not fortified their camps. In surprise, G. Johnston seized the initiative and attacked Grant before reinforcements could arrive. Johnston was wounded on the first afternoon. Both sides were immobolized from the losses. -
Antietam
Sept. 17, 1862- Sept. 18, 1862
The first battle of the American Civil War to be fought on northern soil, fought along Antietam Creek. The battleground Lee selected was well suited for defense but dangerous. The first 4 hours of fighting were indescisive. Lee withdrew across the river on Sept. 18, suffering 10,318 casualties to McClellan's 12,401. The draw that the Union claimed as a victory provided the Lincoln admin. enough justification to issue the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation. -
Fredericksburg
Dec. 11, 1862- Dec. 13, 1862
Burnside crossed the Rappahannock with more than 120,000 Union troops. Burnside ordered his left wing to attack on Lee's right, commanded by Jackson. Jackson was able to launch a successful counterattack. The Union had suffered nearly 13,000 casualties. The Confederates fewer than 5,000. A majority of Republican senators voted to remove Secretary of State William Seward. The victory at Fredericksburg restored Confederate morale after Lee's unsuccessful campaign. -
Chancellorsville
Start: April 30, 1863 End: May 6, 1863
In command for the Confederates was Gen. Robert E. Lee and Gen. Joseph Hooker in command of the Union army. Lee took a risk by spliting his troops in two, knowing that Hooker's troops were twice as big as his, and sent them in on two different sides. This risk was effective for Lee becuase it won him the battle. -
Gettysburg
Start: July 1, 1863 End: July 3, 1863
The battle was faught in the prosperous crossroads of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Confederate forces were led by Hill and Richard Ewell and union forces were led by Winfield Scott Hancock. Union casualties in the battle numbered 23,000 and the confederate casualties in the battle numbered 28,000. This battle along with Ulysses S. Grant's victory at Vicksburg, also on july 4, turned the tide of the Civil War in the Union's favor. -
Vicksburg
Start: May 1862 (couldn't find date) End: July 4, 1863
After a string of frustating failures, Grant conceived a bold move that would enable him to take Vicksburg using the high-ground approaches from the east. They were successful at blocking the small confederate army of General Joseph E. Johnston from linking up with the Vicksburg forces. After previous failled atempts, Grant settled down to methodical siege tactics. He controlled all the approaches to the city. The confederates surrendered. -
Chickamauga
Start: September 19, 1863 End: September 20, 1863
Union General WIlliam Rosecrans had gathered his arm of some 60,000 at Chickamauga, Georgia. Braxton Bragg's (confederate) army was at a low point until the arrival of reinforcements led by James Longstreet arrived. The Union troops won by being allowed to retreat to Chattanooga; a stratgic lost decided by Bragg. -
Wilderness
May 5, 1864-May 7, 1864
The Battle of the Wilderness began when Confederate corps clashed with the Union's 5th Corps near the Orange Turnpike. The fighting was fierce. As reinforcements arrived on both sides that night, Grant ordered an attack for 4 the next morning. On May 6, the Union 2nd Corps attacked along the Plank Rd. At dusk, Lee ordered another attack on the open right flank of the Union line. Grant refused to order a retreat because he told Lincoln he wouldnt regardless of the outcome. -
Spotsylvania
May 5, 1864- May 21, 1864
On May 4, Lee moved his army to confront the enemy where the first attack campaign occurred on May 5-7. For the next 12 days, Spotsylvania Court House saw some of the bloodiest fighting of the Civil War. A surprise attack on May 18 failed by the Union. On May 19, the Confederates turned the tables with a flank attack. In the North, alarmingly high casualty reports dashed the war. Lee was forced to maneuver his army in between the enemy and the Confederate capital. -
Sherman's March to the Sea
Nov. 22, 1864-April 1865
3,500 Confederate cavalry fought with the Union soldiers at Griswoldville; that ended badly. Sherman’s troops arrived in Savannah about 3 weeks after they left Atlanta. The city was undefended when they got there. In 1865, Sherman and his men left Savannah and pillaged their way through SC to Charleston. The Confederacy surrendered and the war was over. Sherman’s “total war” in GA hurt Southern morale, andmade it impossible for the Confederates to fight at full capacity. -
Siege of Petersburg
June 9, 1864-April 9, 1865
Petersburg was a strategic point for the defense of the Confederate capital. In a series of battles, Union losses were heavy, but, by the end of Aug., G. Ulysses S. Grant had crossed the Petersburg–Weldon R.road; he captured Ft. Harrison on Sept.29. On Mar. 25, 1865 the Confederates were driven back at the Battle of Ft. Stedman. Grant crushed a main Southern force under G.George E. Pickett and G.Fitzhugh Lee at the Battle of Five Forks. Lee surrendured to G. Grant. -
Lincoln's Assassination
Date of death: April 14, 1865
John Wilkes Booth was a Maryland native who remained in the North during the Civil War despite his Confederate sympathies. Booth slipped into the box at 10:15 and fired his .44-caliber single-shot derringer into the back of Lincoln's head. After stabbing Rathbone, Booth leapt onto the stage and shouted, "Sic Semper Tyrannis!" ("Thus ever to tyrants!"-the Virginia state moto). Booth was able to escape on horseback despite the minor injury of a broken leg.
