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The Civil War
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The War Begins
On April 12, President Lincoln planned to send supplies to Fort Sumter, he alerted the fort in advance, to avoid fighting with or making the south suspicious. South Carolina feared a trap; the leader of the fort, Robert Anderson, was asked to surrender. Anderson offered to surrender after a long fight and his supplies were exhausted, despite this, his offer was rejected, and the Civil War began at Fort Sumter. -
First Battle of Bull Run
Winfield Scott, a union General began to advance on the South before effectively teaching his troops. Scott told General Irvin McDowell to take his place and advance on Confederate troops stationed at Manassas Junction, Virginia. McDowell launched his attack on July 21, and the battle was thought to be a north success, but Confederate reinforcements arrived resulting in a Southern victory overall. -
Union Launches Organized Attack
President Lincoln issued a war order allowing the Union to launch an attack against the Confederacy. Despite his ranking and respect in the military, General McClellan disregarded this order. -
The First Iron-Clad Ships
In an effort to reduce the North's vast naval advantage, Confederate’s converted an old Union frigate the U.S.S. Merrimac, into an iron-clad vessel. In the first naval battle between ironclad ships, the Merrimac fought the U.S.S Virginia to a draw. -
Battle of Shiloh
Confederate forces assaulted Union forces under General Ulysses S. Grant’s command, at Shiloh, Tennessee. As the end of the day grew closer, the Union troops were almost overpowered. During the middle of that night, Union reinforcements came, and by sunrise the Union took control of the field. Confederate forces retreated; but the worn out Union soldiers did not follow. Casualties were very high. 13,000 out of 63,000 Union soldiers died and 11,000 of 40,000 Confederate troops were killed. -
The Peninsular Campaign
In April, General McClellan's troops left northern Virginia to begin Lincoln’s newest plan, the Peninsular Campaign. By May 4, Union forces took control of Yorktown, Virginia. At Williamsburg Confederate forces prevented McClellan from reaching the core part of the Confederate army. Because of this McClellan stopped his troops and waited for reinforcements. -
The Seven Days Battle
Between June 26 and July 2, Union and Confederate forces fought a number of battles: Mechanicsville, Gaines's Mill, Savage's Station, Frayser's Farm, and Malvern Hill which all took place in Richmond Virginia, these battles became known as the seven days battle. On July 2, the Confederates withdrew ending the Peninsular Campaign. -
Harper's Ferry
Union General McClellan overpowered General Lee at South Mountain and Crampton's Gap in September, but did not move quickly enough to save Harper's Ferry, which fell to General Jackson on September 15, along with a great number of men and a large amount of supplies. -
The Battle of Antietam
This battle proved to be the bloodiest day of the war; 2,108 Union soldiers were killed and 9,549 wounded, 2,700 Confederates were killed and 9,029 wounded. The battle had no apparent winner, but because General Lee retreated to Virginia, McClellan was considered to be the victor. The battle swayed the British and French, who were debating the official recognition of the Confederacy, to not take action. This gave Lincoln the chance to publicize his Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, which wo -
The Vicksburg Campaign
Union General Grant won quite a lot of battles near Vicksburg, Mississippi, the equipped city was considered essential to the Union's plans to recover power of the Mississippi River. On May 22, Grant began a siege of the city. After six weeks of fighting, Confederate General John Pemberton surrendered, giving up the city and roughly 30,000 men. Shortly after he placed the entire Mississippi River in Union control and split the Confederacy in two. -
The Gettysburg Campaign
Confederate General Lee decided to take the war into the north. On June 13, he crushed Union forces at Winchester, Virginia, and continued north to Pennsylvania. General Hooker, who had been setting up to attack Richmond, was instead forced to follow Lee. -
Virginia Splits
Some of the residents of Virginia did not wish to secede along with the rest of the state. These people created their own group in western Virgina, which became known as West Virgina and joined the Union in the fight against slavery. -
The Battle of Cold Harbor
Grant attacked Confederate forces at Cold Harbor, losing more than 7,000 men in twenty minutes. Lee had much fewer casualties, despite this, his army never recovered from Grant's continual attacks. This was Lee's last clear victory of the war. -
Confederate Troops Approach Washington, D.C.
Confederate General Jubal Early led his forces into Maryland to lessen the pressure on Lee's army. Early got within five miles of Washington, D.C., but Union troops stopped him and he was driven back to Virginia. -
Lincoln is Re-elected
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The South Starts to Fall
Transportation troubles and successful blockades caused brutal shortages of food and supplies in the South. Hungry soldiers began to leave Lee's forces, and even though President Jefferson Davis approved the arming of slaves as a means of growing the shrinking army, the decision was never put into effect. -
The Fall of Richmond
General Lee attacked General Grant's forces near Petersburg, but was defeated -- attacking and losing again on April 1. On April 2, Lee evacuated Richmond, the Confederate capital, and headed west to join with other forces. -
The End Of The War
General Lee's troops were soon surrounded after months of defending themselves. On April 7, Grant called upon Lee to surrender. On April 9, the two commanders met at Appomattox Courthouse in Virginia, and agreed on the terms of surrender which were: Lee’s men drop all their arms and they would be allowed to leave in peace, keep all their personal items, and were fed by Grants soldiers.
