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Bleeding Kansas
Bleeding Kansas, or Bloody Kansas was a sequence of violent political disputes involving anti-slavery Free-Staters and pro-slavery “Border Ruffians”. This took place in the Kansas Territory and adjoining towns of Missouri between 1854 to 1861. At the center of this conflict was the inquiry of if Kansas should allow or outlaw slavery practices and enter the Union as a slave state or free state. The battle revolved around anti-slavery forces from the North and pro-slavery forces from the South ov -
Dred Scott Case
Dred Scott v. Sandford was a major decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, it decided that African Americans, slave or free, could not be American citizens and thus had no standing to sue in a federal court and this court had no power over the right to regulate slavery in federal territories gained after the creation of the United States. Dred Scott, who was an enslaved African man attempted to sue his owners after being brought into a free state. In a 7-2 decision, the Court had denied Scott’s requ -
John Brown's Raid
This was an attempt by John Brown, a white abolitionist, to start an armed slave revolt by capturing a United States arsenal at Harpers Ferry Virginia. He led a group of 18 men into the town of Harper’s Ferry, Virginia. He had no rations, and no escape route which doomed his operation from the very beginning. They were defeated by a team of marines led by Robert E Lee. John brown originally asked Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass to join his raid but they couldn’t join. This raid had very fe -
Election of 1860
The Election of 1860 was between four candidates; Abraham Lincoln a Republican, John C. Breckinridge a Southern Democrat, John Bell part of the Constitutional Union and Stephen A. Douglas a Democrat. Abraham Lincoln won this election with the most votes. It was the 19th quadrennial presidential election. Before Lincoln’s launch into the office, several Southern states announced their separation and later formed the Confederacy. Secessionists from four additional Border states joined their separa -
Fort Sumter
Fort Sumter is best known as the site on which the shots that started the Civil War were fired. General P.G.T Beauregard, in command of the Confederate forces around Charleston Harbor where the fort was located. The Confederates opened fire on the Union garrison holding Fort Sumter. At 2:30 pm on April 13th Major Robert Anderson surrendered the fort to the Confederates. -
Battle of Manassas
Also known as the First Battle of Bull Run, this battle was fought in Prince William County Virginia near the ccity of Manassas which is not far from Washington, D.C. This was the first major battle of the Civil War. Each side had aroud 18,000 poorly trained and poorly led troops. There were very few casualties compared to some other battles that will take place. -
Merrimack & Monitor
The battle between the Monitor and the Merrimack was history's first duel between ironclad warships. Also known as the Battle of Hampton Roads, was part of a Confederation attempt to dismantle the Union barricade of the Southern ports. Though the battle didn't have a specific winner, it put forth a new era in naval warfare. -
Shiloh Church
This was a major battle in the Western Theater of the Civil War fought in southwestern Tennessee. 40,000 Confederate soldiers poured out of the nearby forest and struck a line of Union soldiers. The Confederate solderis had the element of surprise because the Union soldiers weren't ready for an attack, so they were driven out of their camps. Some Federals made resolute stands and had set up a battle line in a sunken road called the "Hornet's Nest." In the end the Union won over the Confederates -
Seven Day's Battle
The Seven Day's Battle was one of th emore savage and noteworthy campaigns of the civil. Over the seven days, the Army of Northern Virginia would bring forth a blow at Beaver Dam Creek, Gaines' Mill, Savage Station, Glendale, and Malvern Hill. Lee would put forth a new era of offensive combat that would not only ultimately unnerve George McClellan. Lee's tiumph in the Seven Days would mean that the horrible fighting of Civil War would continue for 3 more tough years. -
Second Battle of Bull Run
It was the culmination of an offensive campaign waged by Confederate Gen. Robert Lee's Army of Northern Virginia against Union Maj. Gen. John Pope's Army of Virginia. This battle was on a much larger scale of personnel compared to the first Battle of Bull Run. Both sides of the conflict suffered heavy casualties. When Confederate artillery devastated a Union assault , Longstreet's wing of 28,000 men counterattacked in the largest, simultaneous mass assault of the war. -
Antietam
The Army of the Potomac mounted a series of powerful assaults against Robert E. Lee's forces. The morning assault and vicious Confederate counterattacks went back and forth through Miller's Cornfield and the West Woods. Afer three major assaults the Union army pushed over a bullet-strewn stone bridge at Antietam Creek. The bloodiest and most horrific day in American military history ended in a draw, but the Confederate retreat gave Abraham the "victory" he desired. -
Fredericksburg
The Army of the Potomac sent a corps to occupy the area of Falmouth near Fredericksburg. The rest of the army soon followed. Lee reacted by entrenching his army on the heights behind the town. The Federal army crossed over and in Burnside set off a series of futile frontal assaults.Meade's division, on the Union left flank, briefly penetrated Jackon's line but was driven back. On December 15yh, Burnside called off the offensive and crossed back over the river, ending the campaign. -
Emancipation Proclamation
Abraham Lincoln delivered the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863 as the country was going onto it's third year of the Civil War. It declared "that all persons held as slaves" within rebellious states "are, and henceforward shall be free." The Emancipation was limited in many ways, it only appied to states that had seceded from the Union. This did not end slavery in the nation, it captured the hearts and imagination of millions of Americans. This Proclamation strengthened the Union. -
Chancellorsville
Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker placed his rejuvenated and reorganized Army of the Potomac on Lee's vulnerable flank. Lee opted to attack Hooker other than retreat while he was still within the dense wilderness. Lee and Jackson made one of the boldest plans of the war. Jackson, with 30,000 confederates, would attack the Union on an exposed flank. The Confederates won but the victory ended with a mortal wounding of Stonewall Jackson. Lee's victory is widely considered to be his greatest of the entire war -
Vicksburg
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 4th, Vicksburg surrendered after continuous siege operations. With the loss of Pemberton's army and this vital stronghold on the Mississippi, the Confederacy was effectively split in half. Grant's successes in the West boosted his reputation, leading to him becoming General-in-Cheif of the Union armies. -
Gettysburg
Gen. Robert E. Lee cocentrated his army around the small town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvannia awaiting the approach of Union Gen. George G. Meade's forces. On July 1, early Union success faltered as Confederates pushed back against the Iron Brigade and exploited a weak Federal line at Barlow's Knoll. The second day led to a heavy battle at Devil's Den, Little Round Top and other places. Southerners captured Devil's Den and the Peach Orchard. On the last day the the battle had a major defeat for Lee -
New York Draft Riots
The New York Draft Riots were violent disturbances in New York City that were a culmination of working-class displeasure with new laws passed by Congress that year to draft men to fight in the ongoing Civil War.The riots remain the largest civil and insurrection in American history besides the Civil War itself. -
Chattanooga
After taking over the Union's western armies, General Ulysses S. Grant focused on lifting the Confederate Siege of Chattanooga, which had been in place since the Battle of Chicamauga in September. On Novermber 23, the reinforced Federals began to fight their way out. The next day Grand launched an attack on Lookout Mountain and captured it. Sherman's initial attack was a failure, a second attack by General George H. Thomas completely broke the center of the Confederates and made them withdraw. -
Atlanta Campaign
The Atlanta Campaign was a series of battles fought in the Western Theater of the Civil War throughout northwest Georgia and the area around Atlanta. The Union invaded Georgia from the vicinity of Chattanooga, opposed by the Confederate forces led by Joseph E. Johnston. Johnston's Army of Tennessee withdrew toward Atlanta in the face of successive flanking maneuvers by Sherman's Group. This further hastening the end of the war. -
Battle of the Wilderness
The Union Army of Potomac went into battle with the Army of Northern Virginia in the dense wilderness. Over the span of two days, the two armies fought to a stalemate, inaugurating a new era of violence in the war in the East. Even suffering badfly from the fighting, the Federals continued their march to the south. -
Spotsylvania
Following the Battle of the Wilderness, Grant marched the Union army south with hope of capturing Spotsylvania Court House. Lee's Confederates managed to get ahead of the Federals and block the road. For the next two weeks, the two armies battled it out in some of the fiercest fighting of the Civil War. -
Seige of Petersburg
Meade's Army of the Potomac crossed the James River on transports and a 2,200 foot long pontoon bridge at Windmill Point. The 5,400 defenders of Petersburg were driven from their first line of entrenchments back to Harrison Creek. After marching and preparations, the Confederate works were heavily manned and the greatest opprotunity to capture Petersburg without a siege was lost. -
Sherman's March
Also known as the the Savannah Campaign in the Civil war, conducted through Georgia by Maj. Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman of the Union Army. The campaign began with Sherman's troops leaving Atlanta and ended with the capture of the port of Savannah. His forces destroyed military targets as well as industry, infastructure, and civilian property. Sherman's bold move of operating deep within enemy territory and without supply lines is considered to be revolutionary in the annals of war. -
Appmattox Court House
Harried mercilessly by Federal troops and continually cut off from turning south, Lee headed west, evtually arriving in Appomattox County. Heading for the South Side Railroad at Appomattox Station, where food supplies waited. The Confederates were cut off once again and surround by Union troops. Despite a final desperate attempt to escape, Lee's army was trapped. General Lee surrendered his remaining troops to General Grant.
