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The Battle of Fort Sumter
General/Leader: Robert Anderson & P.G.T. Beauregard Cause: Confederate forces staged an 24-hour bombardment against the fort and, by attacking federal property, committed an act of open rebellion. Effect: The Civil War began. The Confederates won the battle at Fort Sumter after relentless bombing from the Charleston shoreline. Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Arkansas joined the Confederacy. -
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First Bull Run
General/Leader: General Irvin McDowell
Cause: the northern press and public were eager for the Union Army to make an advance on Richmond ahead of the planned meeting of the Confederate Congress there on July 20. Effect: cost some 3,000 Union casualties, compared with 1,750 for the Confederates. Its outcome sent northerners who had expected a quick, decisive victory reeling, and gave rejoicing southerners a false hope that they themselves could pull off a swift victory. -
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Second Bull Run
General: Stonewall Jackson
Cause: Lincoln and Halleck decided to recall the Army of the Potomac to Washington and unite it with the newly formed Army of Virginia, then under the command of John Pope, in order to make a combined offensive toward Richmond. Effect: Union Major General John Pope lost about 15,000 men in the Second Battle of Bull Run (Manassas), along with his reputation. Relieved of command, he was sent to the Army's Department of the Northwest for the remainder of the Civil War. -
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The Battle of Antietam
General/ Leader: General Robert E. Lee Cause: Maryland was a Border State. The Confederate forces believed if the war pushed into Maryland, the state would join the Confederacy. Effect: It was the deadliest one-day battle in American history, with over 26,000 casualties. Lee's failure to win encouraged Lincoln to issue the Emancipation Proclamation. -
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The Battle of Vicksburg
Cause: Union General Ulysses S. Grant laid siege to Vicksburg, Mississippi because whoever controlled the high ground there in the bend of the Mississippi River during the seven-week siege. Effect: Achieved one of the Union's major strategic goals in the west. The Union now controlled the Mississippi River. Confederate troops and supplies from Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas were cut off from the East. The Confederate lost Mississippi River and the ability to maneuver their forces and supplies. -
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The Battle of Gettysburg
Confederate General Robert E. Lee hoped once again that an invasion of Union territory would weaken Northern support for the war effort. Effect: Lee's army was met by Union troops at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. 51,000 soldiers were killed during the three-day battle. -
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The Battle of Atlanta
Cause: Sherman's goal was to disrupt the Confederacy's capacity to resupply its troops throughout the South. Atlanta was his prime target. Effect: Union troops burned Atlanta to the ground, then Carolinas. During the March to the Sea, Sherman and his men destroyed the crops and livestock they did not harvest and butcher for their own nourishment.