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The Civil War began with shots fired on the fort. Fort Sumter eventually was surrendered to South Carolina
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At the time, Shiloh was both the bloodiest single day and bloodiest two-day battle in American history. It served as America's introduction to the "total warfare" of the rest of the Civil War. Until Ulysses S. Grant's advance down the Tennessee River, engagements in the Civil War had been relatively small. The engagement also saw the death of Sidney Albert Johnston, on whom Jefferson Davis had pinned his hopes in the West.
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With the success of George McClellan's Peninsula Campaign, Lincoln and Edwin Stanton agreed on closing the recruitment offices in the north. Then Lee replaced Joe Johnston as commander of the Army of Northern Virginia and aggressively pursued the Army of the Potomac as it retreated down Virginia's Lower Peninsula. Lincoln and Stanton had to admit they were wrong and re-open the offices.
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Bloodiest day of the Civil War, this battle gave Abraham Lincoln the perceived victory he desired to release the Emancipation Proclamation. The costly battle also ended Robert E. Lee's advance into Maryland.
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George Meade won the largest and most costly battle in American history fought on the farms and hillsides of southern Pennsylvania. The Union victory ended Lee's belief that a single massive victory would defeat the Army of the Potomac.
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Lincoln realized early in the war that control of the Mississippi was a major goal of the Western forces. Ulysses S. Grant delivered the city when the Army of Mississippi surrendered after a prolonged siege. In response Lincoln proclaimed "I have found the man who can win this war."
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In just over two minutes, Lincoln had reminded the Union about the equal rights that were delevered in the US Constitution.
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Lincoln ran as the Republican nominee against Democratic candidate George B. McClellan, who ran as the "peace candidate" without personally believing in his party's platform.
