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After Lincoln sent a ship to supply the fort, the Confederation, led by Jefferson Davis, opened fire on Fort Sumter. This was the Confederacy's implied declaration of conflict with the Union, and it was the answer to Lincolns proposal of rejoin the Union or be willing to face war. -
Lincoln sent the army of General McDowell's 30,000 to Manasas in Virginia to attack the Confederate General Beauregard's of 20,000. It did not go in the Union's favor as their troops became overwhelmed at the Confederate's counterattack. Those of the Confederate forces screamed the "rebel yell" and painted logs to look like cannons. This battle proved to Lincoln that it wasn't going to be a short rebellion after all. -
With the Union's numbers composing largely of German immigrants, the Union went on to fight the largest battle of the Civil War that was west of the Mississippi. The Union was outnumbered but came out victorious, keeping their control of Missouri. -
Ulysses S. Grant and his forces were moving towards Mississippi in hopes of taking control of railroads that were key to Confederate transportation, when the Confederate forces led by Johnston and Beauregard surprised them. This battle was one of the bloodiest, with a total casualty number of about 23,000. Lincoln stood strong in his mentality of "get it done no matter the cost" and that continued throughout the war. -
Similarly to the First Battle of Bull Run, it was a Confederate victory with the Union's forces being crushed. With the Union's casualties amount to more than 10,000, it again showed that the rebel army's forces were not something to take lightly. It would take a lot of strategy and sacrifice to win the war. -
This was the battle that took the most lives in a single day of the Civil War. It ended with no conclusive victor. Only a fraction of McCleallan's troops went against all of Lee's and that allowed for the continued conflict that led to the level of bloodshed that occured. Lincoln took this opportunity to issue the Emancipation Proclamation. -
This battle had the most involved fighting, almost 200,000, than any other conflict during the Civil War. A Confederate victory, the Union lost their chance of being able to gain control of the beneficial city of Richmond, Virginia. Burnside's plan to quickly get into a position between General Lee and Richmond unfortunately failed and led to this loss for the Union. -
The Union's victory in this battle secured their control of the Mississippi River, which was a key route of transportation for the South and it essentially divided it in two. After the 47 days, Pemberton's troops surrendered. This was a Great stratiegic victory for the Union, and showed Grant's success as a commander. -
A victory for the Union, this showed Lee that his ambitious goal of eventually invading the North was too far out of reach. They could never become their own independent country, and this was the battle that made that a concrete reality. Meade unfortunately did not take his opportunity to press forward and force a surrender from Lee. Regardless, still a win for the Union's goal of reuniting the two sides. -
This Union victory was viewed as the end of Civil War, even though battles were fought afterwards. General Robert E. Lee officially surrendered which led to the end of the war, at least in Virginia. Lee's forces were overwhelmed and ended up trapped near the court house. They then proceeded to sign a formal surrender, leading to the end of this most horrific war.