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Battle of Fort Sumter
April 12, 1861 - Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina harbor was bombarded for 34 hours by Confederate forces after the U.S. The army commander failed to evacuate. Fort Sumter was captured April 14 when Major Robert Anderson turned the fort over to the Confederacy. -
Battle of Bull Run
July 21, 1861 - The first Battle of Bull Run at Manassas, Virginia occurred with the repulsion of Union forces by the Confederacy. It was led by generals like Stonewall Jackson. The Confederates won victory bringing them to the height of their power. -
Battle of Antietam
September 17, 1862 - Confederate troops began the 1st invasion of Northern territory. The day of September 17 along Antietam Creek was the bloodiest day of the Civil War. the battle was considered a victory by Union forces when the Confederates abandoned the field, even though Southern troops marching from Harper's Ferry had stemmed the Union tide. -
Battle of Fredericksburg
December 11, 1862 - General Ambrose Burnside began the Battle of Fredericksburg when Union troops crossed the Rappahannock River on pontoons (boats). Two days later General Ambrose Burnside was defeated by General Robert E. Lee. Union troops engaged in futile and deathly charges against fortified positions only to be repulsed again and again in areas like Marye's Heights. -
Battle of Gettysburg
July 1-3, 1863 - Over 51,000 dead, wounded, or missing, the Battle of Gettysburg remains a tribute of remarkable proportion to the men who fought and died on its fields, containing a reverence to the battle that played a major part in retaining the character of the United States of America. -
Battle of Helena
July 4, 1863 - The city of Vicksburg surrenders to General Grant after a two month siege. The Vicksburg campaign included major battles from May 19, including the sinking of gunboats on the Mississippi River by Confederate defenders. -
Battle of Lookout Mountain
November 24, 1863 - Union General George Thomas scaled the heights of Chattanooga during one of the most arduous military charges in history. The charge caused Confederate forces to abandon the area. The forces left Chattanooga and the majority of Tennessee under Union control. -
Battle of Spotsylvania court house
May 5-12, 1864 - At the Battles of the Wilderness and Spotsylvania, General Grant marched against the forces of General Lee in a remarkable series of clashes within the dense forests of Virginia. Union casualties alone numbered nearly 3,000 dead, 21,000 wounded, and 4,000 missing. -
Battle of Appomattox court house
April 9, 1865 - General Robert E. Lee, as commander in chief of Confederate forces, surrendered his 27,000 man army to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House, Virginia. This effectively ended the four years of Civil War conflict. -
the Thirteenth Amendment
December 18, 1865 - The Thirteenth Amendment, abolishing slavery, took effect.
