-
The Firing on Fort Sumter
The Confederate States of America had seceded from the Union, but in South Carolina, there was the Union Fort Sumter. They fired on the fort to rid the Confederacy of anything from the Union. This was the first battle of the Civil War. -
Period: to
The Seven Days Battles
The Confederates suffered higher losses than the Union, 20,204 to 15,855 men killed, wounded, or missing. The Confederate's won because of General Lee's unorthodox tatics and determination. -
The First Battle of Bun Run
The first battle of bull run took place 3 months after Fort Sumter. About 30,000 Union soldiers were moving towards Richmond. President Lincoln had commanded General Irvin McDowell to attack saying, "You are green, it is true, but they are green also; you are all green alike." The morning was in favor of the Union but as the day went on, the Southern reenforcements came, lead by Genreal Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson. -
The Trent Affair
President Davis decided to send two diplomats to the Britian to attempt to get their support in the war for a second time. They travled on the British merchentship, the Trent. An American warship attacked the ship and arrested the two men. Britain was furious with Lincoln and sent 8,000 troops to Canada. Knowing the country could not handle another war, he stated that the capitan of the ship did not have orders to attack them. -
Fort Henry
General Ulysses S. Grant lead the Union army in to western Tennessee. He was a brave, tough, and decisive military commander. It took him eleven days to capture two Confederate forts on two important rivers. Fort Henry was on the Tennessee River. The South asked Grant about the terms of surrender. All he asked for was "no terms except unconditional and immediate surrender can be accepted." From then on, his nickname was "Unconditional Surrender" Grant. -
Fort Donelson
General Ulysses S. Grant lead the Union army in to western Tennessee. He was a brave, tough, and decisive military commander. It took him eleven days to capture two Confederate forts on two important rivers. Fort Donelson was on the Cumberland River. The South asked Grant about the terms of surrender. All he asked for was "no terms except unconditional and immediate surrender can be accepted." From then on, his nickname was "Unconditional Surrender" Grant. -
Shiloh
General Ulysses S. Grant reached Shiloh, but he had failed to entrench his men or to set up adequate patrols or guards. On April 6, thousands of Confederate soldiers sprang a suprize attack. Many Union soldiers were shot while making coffee. By nightfall the destruction of the Union was imminate. Through out the night, Grant reorganized and by mid afternoon the next day, the Union had won. Out of the 100,000 troops there, 1/4 were killed, wounded, or missing. -
Conscription
Conscription had began in the Southern states in 1862. It drafted all able bodied men from the age of 18 to 35. As the war went on and they suffered more losses, they changed the age to 17 to 50. This act forced certain members of the population serve, it also allowed the rich people to hire others to fight for them. Many people, dispite this fact served, 80% of them served. The poorer residents called the Civil War a "rich mans war, a poor mans fight." -
Antietam
Antietam was the bloodiest single day battle in American History. The casualties were more than 260,000 troops were killed. General McClellan could have ended the war if he had pursued the Confederates, but he did not. He was fired on November 7. -
The Emancipation Proclamation
". . . on the first day of January . . . all persons held as slaves within any State, or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free." ~President Lincoln -
Period: to
Vicksburg
General Grant landed troops in Vicksburg on April 30. It took him 18 days to whip several reble units and sacked Jackson. Grant ordered frontal assaults, but many were not successful. On July 3, 1863, the Confederacy commanders asked for the terms of surrender, and the next day, the city fell. -
The Battle of Gettysburg Day 1
The Confederate troops under the command of A.P. Hill, needed shoes and were marching towards Gettysburg to meet General Lee's troops. They had ran into a few brigades of Union cavalry. The Union soldiers retreated when the rebles furiously fought back. The Confederates took the town, and set their sights on Cemetery Ridge. -
The Battle of Gettysburg Day 2
On the second day of fighting in Gettysburg, there were 90,000 Yankees and 75,000 Confederate troops fighting. At 4:00 PM, the Confederate soldiers marched from Seminary Ridge. The Union leaders sent a brigade out to defend the hill.Colonel Joshua L. Chamberland marched out to meet them. The Confeds. were exausted from up hill fighting and a 25 mile march. The Union won. -
The Battle of Gettysburg Day 3
It was the last day of the fighting at Gettysburg, so General Lee made one last attempt. The two armies fought for 7 hours, and the Union won back some of the land they had lost the day before. The fighting could be heard in Pittsburg. The South rallied their troops for a counter attack, but the Union had stopped it.. The South suffered 30% more casualties, 28,000 troops were killed or wounded, to the Unions 23,000. -
Period: to
The Daft Riots
Mobs of men and women, about 2/3 irish, rampaged through New York City. They lynched eleven African Americans and smashed hundreds of their homes. They attacked well dressed men on the street. This was not the only dramatic development. -
The Gettysburg Address
Lincoln's speech lasted only two minutes, but it "remade" America. Before the speech, people said the United States 'are' but after the speech it was the United States 'is'. -
The Fort Pillow Massacre
The Confeerate troops under the command of General Nathan Bedford shot over 200 African American Union prisoners. The white prisoners in the fort who pleaded for the blacks to be spared were also killed. -
Grant and Lee in Virginia
From May 4 to June 18, 1864 General Grant lost almost 65,000 men, many of whom could be replaced, where as General Lee lost only 35,000 men, many of whom could NOT be replaced. The democrats and newspapers in the North, began calling Grant the butcher, but he would not stop. He had promised Lincoln that "Whatever happens, there will be no turning back." -
The 1864 Election
The 1864 Election was between Lincoln and McClellan. Lincoln won with 55% of the popular vote. -
Appomattox
General Grant and General Lee met in Virginia to decide the Confederates terms of surrender.President Lincoln requested that the therms would be generous. Grant paroled Lee's soldiers, he sent them home with their personal possessions, horses and three days worth of rations. The officers were also allowed to keep their sidearms. With in one month of the end of the war, all Confederate ressitance collapsed.
