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Uncle Tom's Cabin
Uncle Tom's Cabin is a book written in 1852 by Harriet Beecher Stowe. This book dramatizes slavery, so people in the North liked it. It is the story of Tom, a slave who saved a girl's life. Her dad, grateful, buys Tom. Later, the girl is on her deathbed, and as her last wish, she asks her Dad to release his slaves. The Dad was going to, but is killed in the process. Tom‘s new owner, Simon Legree, tortures Tom to try and find other escaped slaves. Tom never gives any info, and is killed by Simon. -
A bit of background information
When Lincoln was voted into office, most of the southern states did not want to talk about slaves, and getting rid of slavery. As a result, those states left The Union to create their own Confederacy. -
Anaconda Plan
A man called Winfield Scott made the Anaconda Plan was made to make sure that the Civil War ended with as little casualties as possible. The plan was to surround the Confederacy around its shores, so that it would fail financially and would crumble in as little time as possible. This plan would aid in winning against the Confederates. -
Fort Sumter
The Union was trying to send supplies to Fort Sumter, a fort right off of South Carolina, but the ship was intercepted by the Confederates, and was forced to turn away. The next day, the Confederates, with an army of 500, went into battle against the defending Union, with only 80 men. This led to The Union surrendering. There were no casualties on either side. -
First Battle of Bull Run
This battle started with the Union army marching past Washington D.C. Once the army got to Confederate lines, a few soldiers were sent to test out the Confederate defenses. That caused a little fighting to break out. The Union wanted to attack the Confederates from the top left, while another part attacked the right, which would cause a flank. However, the Union‘s plans failed, and they were forced to retreat, leading to a Confederate win. -
Battle of the Ironclads
While most battles in the Civil War were fought on land, this battle was fought in the water. Specifically, this battle was fought in the Chesapeake Bay. Four hours into the battle, the Confederate controlled C.S.S Virginia withdrew from the battle, making in a Union victory. -
Battle of Glorieta Pass
This battle, which happened in the New Mexico Territory between March 26 and March 28, 1862. This battle, known as “The Gettysburg of the West” was thought of by the Confederates, wanting to rid the Union of its land in the west. The plan was going very well for the Confederates, but they ran out of supplies and had to retreat, leading to a Union victory in the Battle of Glorieta Pass. -
Shiloh (Pittsburg Landing)
The Confederate army withdrew from Kentucky, leaving it to the Union. The union advanced even more south to capture Nashville, the first state capital captured, and towards Mississippi, which would basically split the Confederacy into two different parts. This caused the Confederacy to launch an ambush attack on Union camps. -
Second Battle of Bull Run
This battle was fought near the sight of the First Battle of Bull Run, in northern Virginia. In this battle, the Union tried flanking the Confederate Army, but was stopped by the Confederates. This caused the Union to retreat back to a nearby town called Centreville, which meant a win for the Confederates. -
Antietam
George McClellan‘s Union army of 87,000 men went up against Robert E. Lee's Confederate army of 45,000 men. The battle was a back and forth in which the Union army kept on trying to get to the Confederate area, only to fall back. This battle would end as the bloodiest battle in the Civil War. -
Fredericksburg
Between December 11 and December 15, 1862, the Union army tried to get into Richmond, but the army needed to build a bridge to move across the river. Once the bridge was built, the Union army attempted multiple attacks, but they all had many casualties. One attack worked, but it was counter-attacked shortly after. On the 15th, the Union retreated, causing a Confederate win. -
Battle of Chancellorsville
Between April 30 and May 6, 1863, the Battle of Chancellorsville occurred. On May 1, the Union force, with 130,000 men, approached the Confederate army of 60,000 men. The Confederated decided to fight in the woods so that the amount of men that the Union had would not matter much. Knowing what the Confederates thought of for the battle, the Union ran off towards Chancellorsville, thinking that they would do better in the city rather than the woods. This battle ended in a Confederate win. -
Vicksburg
The Confederate Army was inside of Vicksburg, and was planning on settling in there. Grant, not wanting that to happen, tried to get the Union army to attack, but only one of the three corps was ready to attack. From May 18, 1863, to July 4 that same year, the Union stayed there cannons ready, while the Confederate army got settled in, too. This battle also had possibly the worst casualty of the entire Civil War: Douglas, a camel. -
Battle of Gettysburg
Confederate General Robert E. Lee tried to win against The Union by launching an invasion the North, which is something that Lee thought would scare the North into surrendering. However, Lee and his army lost, which meant that his plans have failed. This battle had about 51 thousand casualties from both sides combined. -
Battle of Chickamauga
This battle, fought between September 18 to 20, 1863, in northwestern Georgia/southwestern Tennessee. With about 60 thousand men, the Union finished the last part of their offense, called the Chickamauga Campaign. However, the battle was won by the Confederates, making the campaign a failure. This battle would go on to be the Union's most significant loss. -
Battle of Blue Springs
This battle was fought in Tennessee. This battle was part on the Knoxville Campaign, which was a campaign in which the Union was trying to push the Confederates out of Tennessee. The battle took around 7 hours, and would end in a Union victory, and would enable the Union to move on in their plans to remove the Confederates out of Tennessee. -
Gettysburg Address
The Gettysburg Address was a speech given by Abraham Lincoln. The speech was only two minutes long. It describes how even in a civil war, a nation can stay together. Also, he talked about how the world will not forget what is said there, but what happened there. However, the opposite was what happened. -
Battle of Atlanta
This battle took place in Atlanta, as the title says. In this battle, the Union, led by Sherman tried to capture Atlanta, a key city for the Confederates. It took a month for Atlanta to fall, but it did, causing a key victory for the Union, which would massively help in the final stages of the war. -
Sherman‘s March to the Sea
Between November 15 and December 21, 1864, Sherman's March to the Sea was taking place. After capturing Atlanta earlier, Sherman and his army moved to capture the city of Savannah. During this march to Savannah, Sherman followed his “scorched earth” policy, in which he would burn every building in sight to hurt the Confederate economy. -
Appomattox
Appomattox House was the building in which Robert E. Lee, the Confederate general, surrendered to the Union general, Ulysses S. Grant. This was the final engagement between the Confederates and the Union. This engagement also had no fatalities. -
Lincoln‘s Assassination
After the Confederate surrender, a man called John WIlkes Booth was mad for losing the war. He was a famous actor, and he decided to take revenge for the Confederate loss. Booth went to Ford's Theater in Washington D.C, in which Lincoln was staying in at the time. He went up to Lincoln, and shot him in the back of the head. A day later, Lincoln was pronounced dead, the first president assassination in the U.S.
