-
Fort Sumter
In Charleston, South Carolina, a federal outpost a spark happened. It was attacked by Confederate troops, beginning the civil war. -
Battle of Philippi
George B. McClellan and was notable for the first battlefield amputations. As the first of a series of victories that pushed Confederate forces out of northwest Virginia, it strengthened the Union government in exile that would soon create the new state of West Virginia -
First Battle of Bull Run
President Lincoln ordered Union forces to attack Confederate Forces at Manhattan Junction because it was a step forward to taking their capital. -
Battle of Hatteras Inlet Batteries
Although held up by bad weather, the fleet was able to land troops under General Ben Butler, who took the surrender of Flag Officer Samuel Barron. -
Battle of Ball's Bluff
Evans used the Federal delay to organize his men, and when Col. Baker was killed in the afternoon, Union resistance crumbled. The victorious Confederates drove the Yankees over the bluff and into the Potomac, where many drowned and hundreds surrendered rather than risk escape into the river. -
Battle of Belmont
Grant overrun a Confederate camp at the Battle of Belmont, Missouri, but are forced to flee when additional Confederate troops arrive. Although Grant claimed victory, the Union gained no ground and left the Confederates in firm control of that section of the Mississippi River. -
Battle of Mill Springs
The decisive Union victory at the Battle of Mill Springs, Kentucky, on January 19, 1862, led to the total collapse of the eastern sector of the Confederate defensive line established to defend the Upper South and hopefully secure Kentucky's allegiance to the Southern cause. -
Battle of Fort Henry
Ulysses S. Grant and Flag Officer Andrew Foote were commissioned to lead a joint expedition to seize the twin forts. Union Victory. With greater manpower and artillery, Foote and his ships wreaked havoc on Confederate defenses for two hours, inflicting casualties and destroying their artillery. -
Battle of Fort Donelson
The Union victory at Fort Donelson forced the Confederacy to give up southern Kentucky and much of Middle and West Tennessee. The Tennessee and Cumberland rivers, as well as railroads in the area, became vital Federal supply lines, and Nashville became a huge supply depot for the Union army in the west. -
Battle at Malvern Hill
McClellan's army in the Battle of Malvern Hill on July 1, 1862. Though a Union victory, it brought an end to the Peninsula Campaign and the Seven Days Battles. Union Victory. After launching several failed attacks, Lee, with nightfall coming on, decided to call off any further assaults, thus ending the battle. -
Battle of Gettysburg
Union victory. Gettysburg ended Confederate general Robert E. Lee's ambitious second quest to invade the North and bring the Civil War to a swift end. The loss there dashed the hopes of the Confederate States of America to become an independent nation. -
First Battle of Fort Wagner
An attempt by the Union Army to capture Fort Wagner was repulsed. The more famous Second Battle of Fort Wagner, which involved an assault by the 54th Massachusetts, would be fought on July 18. -
Second battle at Fort Wagner
Union Army troops commanded by Brig. Gen. Quincy Gillmore launched an unsuccessful assault on the Confederate fortress of Fort Wagner, which protected Morris Island, south of Charleston Harbor. -
Battle of the Wilderness
The Battle of the Wilderness ended inconclusively, though the Union Army suffered more than 17,500 casualties over the two days of fighting, some 7,000 more than the toll suffered by the Confederates. -
Battle of New Market
The Battle of New Market was fought on May 15, 1864, in Virginia during the Valley Campaigns of 1864 in the American Civil War. A makeshift Confederate army of 4,100 men defeated the larger Army of the Shenandoah under Major General Franz Sigel, delaying the capture of Staunton by several weeks. -
Battle of Cold Harbor
As Union forces advanced toward Richmond in the spring of 1864, Gen. Robert E. Lee's Confederate army repulsed and outmaneuvered Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's troops at Cold Harbor in a devastating two-week action that cost more than 17,000 lives. -
Battle of Atlanta
William T. Sherman's troops at Atlanta was repulsed with heavy losses. Hood and Sherman continued to battle for the crucial Confederate city throughout the summer until Hood was finally forced to abandon Atlanta to Union forces on September 1, 1864. -
Battle of the Crater
Union soldiers lit the fuse before dawn on July 30. The explosion that came just before 5:00 a.m. blew up a Confederate battery and most of one infantry regiment, creating a crater 170 feet long, 60 to 80 feet wide, and 30 feet deep. -
Battle of Cedar Creek
The Federal victory at Cedar Creek on October 19, 1864 ended Confederate resistance in the Shenandoah Valley. Coming just three weeks before the presidential election, news of the victory boosted morale in the Northern states and helped carry Abraham Lincoln to a landslide reelection. -
Battle of Spring hill
On November 29, 1864, Confederate General John B. Hood attacked Union General John M. Schofield's Union army at Spring Hill, resulting in the Union army slipping away during the night and towards Franklin, where the fighting continued the next day. Stalemate. -
Surrender at Appomattox Court House
Trapped by the Federals near Appomattox Court House, Confederate general Robert E. Lee surrendered his army to Union general Ulysses S. Grant, precipitating the capitulation of other Confederate forces and leading to the end of the bloodiest conflict in American history.