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Period: to
Civil War
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Fort Sumpter
Fort Sumter
April 12, 1861 to April 14, 1861
President Lincoln sends a ship to resupply the federal fort. Believing the ship had troops and weapons, the Confederacy fired on the fort. Due to the attack on the fort, Lincoln calls up 75,000 troops and some of the border states, such as Virginia, secede. -
First Bull Run
This was the first major land battle of the armies in Virginia. On July 16, 1861, the untried Union army under Brig. Gen. Irvin McDowell marched from Washington against the Confederate army, which was drawn up behind Bull Run beyond Centreville. On the 21st, McDowell crossed at Sudley Ford and attacked the Confederate left flank on Matthews Hill. Fighting raged throughout the day as Confederate forces were driven back to Henry Hill. Late in the afternoon, Confederate reinforcements extended . -
Hampton Roads
n March 8, 1862, from her berth at Norfolk, the Confederate ironclad Virginia steamed into Hampton Roads where she sank Cumberland and ran Congress aground. On March 9, the Union ironclad Monitor having fortuitously arrived to do battle, initiated the first engagement of ironclads in history. The two ships fought each other to a standstill, but Virginia retired. -
Shiloh
On the morning of April 6, 1862, 40,000 Confederate soldiers under the command of Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston poured out of the nearby woods and struck a line of Union soldiers occupying ground near Pittsburg Landing on the Tennessee River. The overpowering Confederate offensive drove the unprepared Federal forces from their camps and threatened to overwhelm Ulysses S. Grant’s entire command. Some Federals made determined stands and by afternoon, they had established a battle line. -
Antietam
The Army of the Potomac, under the command of George McClellan, mounted a series of powerful assaults against Robert E. Lee’s forces near Sharpsburg, Maryland, on September 17, 1862. The morning assault and vicious Confederate counterattacks swept back and forth through Miller’s Cornfield and the West Woods. Later, towards the center of the battlefield, Union assaults against the Sunken Road pierced the Confederate center after a terrible struggle. -
Fredericksburg
On November 14, Burnside, now in command of the Army of the Potomac, sent a corps to occupy the vicinity of Falmouth near Fredericksburg. The rest of the army soon followed. Lee reacted by entrenching his army on the heights behind the town. On December 11, Union engineers laid five pontoon bridges across the Rappahannock under fire. On the 12th, the Federal army crossed over. -
Chancellorsville
Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker’s well-executed crossing of the Rappahannock fords on April 30, 1863 placed his rejuvenated and reorganized Army of the Potomac on Lee’s vulnerable flank. Rather than retreat before this sizable Federal force, Lee opted to attack Hooker while he was still within the thick wilderness. Late on May 1, 1863, Lee and Jackson conceived one of the boldest plans of the war. Jackson, with 30,000 Confederates, would follow a circuitous route to the Union. -
Gettysburg
Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee concentrated his army around Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, upon the approach of Union Gen. George G. Meade’s forces. On July 1, Confederates drove Union defenders through Gettysburg to Cemetery Hill. The next day Lee struck the flanks of the Union line resulting in severe fighting at Devil's Den, Little Round Top, the Wheatfield, Peach Orchard, Culp’s Hill and East Cemetery Hill. -
Vicksburg
Vicksburgh
May 18, 1863 to July 4, 1863
The Union took over the Mississippi River in the battle of Vicksburg. With the Union forces taking control of the Mississippi River they seperated Confederate forces from Texas. Premberton surendered the city on July 4th. With the battle won by the North greatly heartened them making this the changing point of the war. -
Chickamauga
Chickamauga
September 18, 1863 to September 20, 1863
During the battle of Chickamauga their was almost 20,000 casualties in the South with 10 generals killed or wounded and 16,000 casualties in the North. Grant was promoted to a brigadier general after the battle. The North had a decisive victory giving the North the advantage. -
Wilderness
Wilderness
May 5, 1864 to May 7, 1864
Even with 17,500 casualties on the Union side some 7,000 more than the Confederates the North didn't retreat. With Grant of command the North held their ground. The South believed the North was retreating as they really continued to Spotsylvina Courtyard but the South got there first. -
Spotsylvania
Spotsylvania
May 8, 1864 to May 21,1864
This battle was one of the bloodiest during the Civil war with 18,000 Union casualties and 11,000 Confederate. On May 12, Hancock's Union corps attacked the Confederate mule-shoe salient at a section that became known as "Bloody Angle," capturing most of a rebel division of and nearly splitting Lee's army in half. By doing so the Union forces made it easier for them to fight and harder for the Confederates to defend and communicate. -
Sherman's March
Sherman's March
November 15, 1864 to December 21, 1864
On September 2 Sherman's troops captured Alanta, Georgia. Sherman's plan was to march his troops to the see and destroy whatever they could. They called this "total war". On this march Sherman's forces would burn crops, destroy railroads, and destroy cotton fields. With this Sherman destroys any mean of money the South could get. -
Petersburg
Petersburg
June 9, 184 to March 25, 1865
Grant as the commanding general in this battle they Union forces pushed back the Confederate forces to Fort Stedman. Union forces had about 120,000 troops compaired to the Confederate 50,000. At Fort Stedman General Johnston surrendered to Grant. -
Lincoln's Assassination
Lincoln's Assassination
April 14, 1865
Lincoln was assassinated on April 14, 1865 in Ford's Theather. Booth slipped into the box and fired his .44-caliber single-shot derringer into the back of Lincoln's head. Lincoln was dead on the spot
