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Period: to
The Civil War
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Lincoln Election
Lincoln was elected as the 16th President. -
Battle of Fort Sumter
Confederate forces demanded the surrender of Fort Sumter. Union Garrison commander Anderson refused. Confederate batteries opened fire on the fort, which was unable to reply. April 13, Major Anderson surrendered Fort Sumter, evacuating the garrison on the following day. The bombardment of Fort Sumter was the opening engagement. -
Battle of Bull Run/Manassas
This was the first major land battle of the armies in Virginia. McDowell crossed at Sudley Ford and attacked the Confederate left flank on Matthews Hill. Confederate forces were driven back to Henry Hill. Late in the afternoon, Confederate reinforcements extended and broke the Union right flank. The Federal retreat rapidly deteriorated into a rout. Although victorious, Confederate forces were too disorganized to pursue. -
Battle of Shiloh
The Confederates (division led by Generals Albert Sidney Johnston and P.G.T. Beauregard) attacked the Union with the intention of driving them away from the Tennessee River. The Confederate line became confused and Grants men fell back towards another Union division led by Brigatier Generals Benjamin M. Prentiss and W.H.L. Wallace, who helped stabilize the Union line. Lew Wallace and Don Carlos Buell led their men to assisst the Union later that day. -
Battle of Shiloh
The Union army now outnumbered the Confederates. Unknowingly, the Confederates were going to attack the Union once again. The Union started a counterattack at dawn. The confederates, low on ammunition, food, and men, withdrew. -
Battle of Antietam
This battle was the bloodiest single-day battle in American History. There was 23,000 casualties. Union army Major General George B. McClellan led Lee's army into Maryland. On Sept. 17 Major General Joseph Hooker attacked Lee's left flank. Union Maj. Gen. Ambrose Burnside's corps arrived and advanced against the Confederate's right side. Confederate Maj. Gen. A.P. Hill's division arrived and launched a surprise counterattack, and ended the battle. -
Battle of Fredericksburg
On December 11, Union engineers laid five pontoon bridges across the Rappahannock under fire. On the 12th, the Federal army crossed over, and on December 13, Burnside mounted a series of futile frontal assaults on Prospect Hill and Marye’s Heights that resulted in staggering casualties. Meade’s division, on the Union left flank, briefly penetrated Jackson’s line but was driven back by a counterattack. On December 15, Burnside called off the offensive and recrossed the river, ending the campaign. -
Battle of Chancellorsville
The Union Army under Gen. Hooker is decisively defeated by Lee's much smaller forces at the Battle of Chancellorsville in Virginia as a result of Lee's brilliant and daring tactics. Confederate Gen. Stonewall Jackson is mortally wounded by his own soldiers. Hooker retreats. -
Battle of Vicksburg
In May and June of 1863, Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant’s armies converged on Vicksburg, investing the city and entrapping a Confederate army under Lt. Gen. John Pemberton. On July 4, Vicksburg surrendered after prolonged siege operations. With the loss of Pemberton’s army and this vital stronghold on the Mississippi, the Confederacy was effectively split in half. -
Battle of Gettysburg
Confederate General Robert E. Lee led his army north heading for Pennsylvania of Philadelphia. Union Major General George Gordon Meade's Army of the Potomac defeated their attacks. Lee's army was concentracted in Gettysburg, defended by the Union. Two large confederate corps attacked the union troops. -
Battle of Gettysburg
Most of both armies had assembled. The union had assembled in a defensive formation. Lee launched a heavy attack on the union's left flank. The union attacked on the right. The union held their lines despite the losses. -
Battle of Gettysburg
An assult by 12,500 Confederates against the Union, known as Pickett's Charge, was repulsed by the union causing major losses to the confederates, who retreated back to Virginia. This battle had the largest number of casualties in the Civil War. -
Lincoln Assassination
President Lincoln was watching a play at Ford's Theatre, when John Wilkes Booth, shot him. He also had planned to kill the Sectretary of State and the V.P. as well. He wanted to overthrow the Federal Government. The Secretary of state was attacked and wounded but survived. The one to kill the V.P. fled.
