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First Battle of Bull Run
This battle took place on July 21, 1861, in Prince William County, Virginia. This battle was between the Union forces led by Abraham Lincoln and his commanders and the Confederates led by Jefferson Davis and his commanders. This was the first major battle of in the American Civil War. The Union positioned themselves slowly which allowed for Confederate reinforcements to arrive. The Confederates won which then caused the Union's forces to retreat. -
Battle of Wilson's Creek
This was the first major battle of the trans- Mississippi Theater. On August 10, 1861, Union Brigadier General Nathaniel Lyon attacked General Sterling Price and General Benjamin McCulloch’s Confederate forces near Springfield, Missouri. The battle lasted for more than five hours which causes about 2,300 total casualties, including Lyon. After Lyon’s death, the Union ordered a retreat The battle was important to the Union because they needed to keep Missouri in the Union. -
Battle of Fort Donelson
The Battle of Fort Donelson began on February 11, 1862, and ended on February 16, 1862. This battle occurred in Fort Donelson, Stewart County, Tennessee. This battle involved Union General Ulysses S. Grant and Confederate General John B. Floyd. After the Union had captured the Confederate fort near the Tennessee and Kentucky border they were able to have easy access to the Confederates resulting in a Union Victory and Cofederate unconditional surrender. -
Battle of Shiloh
On April 6, 1862, the Confederate Army of Mississippi General Albert Sidney Johnston launched an attack on the Army of the Tennessee commanded by General Ulysses Grant near Pittsburg Landing in southwestern Tennessee. On April 7, the Confederates were forced to retreat from the battle after the 23,000 casualties, resulting in a Union victory. The battle of Shiloh was important because it opened the Mississippi up for Union control. -
Battle of Donaldsonville
The First Battle of Donaldsonville occurred on August 9, 1862, in Ascension Parish, Lousiana. This battle involved Adm. David G. Farragut and Capt. Phillippe Landry. During this battle, Landry had believed to be the captain of the partisan unit which had fired on the landing party raid which led to Union ships to fire resulting in a Union victory. -
Second Battle of Bull Run
The Second Battle of Bull Run began on August 28, 1862, until August 30, 1862. This battle took place in Prince William County, Virginia. This battle involved Confederate General Robert E. Lee's Amry of Northern Virginia against Union Maj. General John Pope's Amry of Virginia. This battle was of much larger scale to the First Battle of Bull Run resulting in Confederate Victory. This caused the Union's left flank to be crushed and the army to retreat back to Bull Run. -
Battle of Richmond
Fought from August 29-30, 1862 on and around Richmond, Kentucky, resulted in a victory for Major General Edmund Kirby Smith’s Confederate against the Union commanded by Major General William “Bull” Nelson. This was the first major battle in the Kentucky Campaign and resulted in a Confederate victory. The Confederate army moved into separate paths to bring back the Confederate Government and threaten the Unions power. This made the way north of Lexington and Frankfort was then open. -
Battle of Antietam
The Battle of Antietam occurred on September 17, 1862. This battle was fought in the Southern United States near Sharpsburg, Maryland. The battle involved Confederate Geral Robert E. Lee's Amry of Northern Virginia and Union General George B. McClellan's Army of the Potomac. This battle had over 20,000 causalties making it the bloodiest day in United States history . The Union made a strategic victory against the Confederates which causes the Emancipation Proclamation to be issued. -
Battle of Fredericksburg
The Battle of Fredericksburg began on December 13, 1862 in Fredericksburg Virginia. Involved General Robert E. Lee’s Confederate army of Northern Virginia and General Ambrose Burnside’s Union Army of the Potomac. Burnside decided to hurl 14 attacks against the Confederate lines. On December 15 Burnside withdrew the Union and collected their dead and wounded soldiers resulting in another victory for the Confederates. The war caused a major setback for the Union and gave the Confederates new hope. -
Siege of Vicksburg
In the June of 1863, the Union’s Army of the Tennessee, commanded by General Ulysses S. Grant, converged on Vicksburg and trapped Lt. General John Pemberton’s Confederate army for a period of 6 weeks. On July 4, Pemberton surrendered after the death of over 29,00 men. This was important because the Union got full control of the Mississippi River which led to shutting down the confederates trade, it also boosted Grant’s reputation, causing his appointment as General-in-Chief of the Union armies. -
Battle of Chancellorsville
The Battle of Chancellorsville began on April 30, 1863, and lasted until May 6, 1863. This battle took place in Spotsylvania County, Virginia and involved the Union Army led by General Joseph Hooker and the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia led by General Robert E. Lee. General Robert E. Lee made the decision to divdie his army against their large enemy resulting in another Confederate victory. -
Battle of Gettysburg
On July 1 through July 3, 1863, in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania the Battle of Gettysburg was fought. The Confederates led by General Robert E. Lee clashed with the Union’s Army of Potomac led by General George Meade which started the Battle of Gettysburg. On the night of July 4, Lee withdrew the war when 23,000 of the Union were killed, wounded, or missing. This war was important because before the war, Lee’s Army was at its strongest point but Lee’s army was nearly crippled after Meade’s defeat. -
Second Battle of Fort Wagner
The Second Battle of Fort Wagner began on July 18, 1863, in Fort Wagner, Charleston, South Carolina. In this battle the Brig. General Quincy Gillmore with his Union troops went against the Confederate Fortress of Fort Wagner. This fort was protected by Morris Island in the Charleston Harbor. Due to this it resulted in a Confederate victory. -
Chattanooga Campaign
The Chattanooga Campaign was a series of battles during November of 1863 in Chattanooga, Tennessee. In these series of battles, the Union Army was led by Ulysses S. Grant and the Confederate army was led by Braxton Bragg. Grant had ordered Thomas's army to advance. Due to the miscommunication, the men surged the top of the Missionary Ridge which ultimately caused Bragg's army to retreat. Bragg's defeat destroyed the last important Confederate control in Tennessee and made invasion easy. -
Battle of the Wilderness
On May 5, 1864, the Army of the Potomac, led by George Meade, crossed the Rapidan and marched through the Wilderness in Spotsylvania County, Virginia against Confederate General Robert E. Lee and the Confederate Army. This battle caused both sides to suffer from heavy casualties. Grant had disengaged and moved south leaving the Wilderness to move his army between Lee and Richmond leading to an inconclusive result. However, Grant and the Union continued offensively to another battle. -
Battle of Cold Harbor
The Battle of Cold Harbor took place from May 31, 1864, until June 12, 1864, in Hanover County, Virginia. This battle involved Union Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant Overland Campaign and Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's army. Grant had advanced his lines, going to the James River and Lee's army had then taken a defensive victory against the Union. Both sides had a tremendous amount of causalities and it was the last Confederate Victory. -
Siege of Petersburg
The Siege of Petersburg was a series of battles fought from June 9, 1864, to March 25, 1865, around the cities of Richmond and Petersburg. This involved Union forces led by Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's army. This was a campaign of trench warfare that lasted nine months. This created an immense amount of pressure for the Confederates and Robert E. Lee gave up and left both cities due to this pressure. This resulted in a Union Victory.
