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South Secession
The convention then adjourned to Charleston to draft an ordinance of secession. When the ordinance was adopted on December 20, 1860, South Carolina became the first slave state in the south to declare that it had seceded from the United States. -
Firing on Fort Sumter
A fort in SE South Carolina, in the harbor of Charleston: its bombardment by the Confederates opened the Civil War. -
Battle of Bull Run
The first battle of the American Civil War, fought in Virginia near Washington, D.C. The surprising victory of the Confederate army humiliated the North and forced it to prepare for a long war. A year later the Confederacy won another victory near the same place. -
Shiloh
Also known as the Battle of Pittsburgh Landing, was a major battle in the Western Theater of the American Civil War, fought April 6–7, 1862, in southwestern Tennessee.With more than 23,000 casualties, Shiloh was the first battle of the Civil War that saw large-scale death and suffering. -
Antietam
Also called Battle of Sharpsburg, a decisive engagement in the American Civil War that halted the Confederate advance on Maryland for the purpose of gaining military supplies. -
Gettysburg
The Battle of Gettysburg, fought in July 1863, was a Union victory that stopped Confederate General Robert E. Lee's second invasion of the North. More than 50,000 men fell as casualties during the 3-day battle, making it the bloodiest battle of the American Civil War. -
Chancellorsville
An important battle of the Civil War, fought in Virginia in 1863. The South, led by Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson, defeated a larger northern army, but Jackson was accidentally shot and killed by his own men after the battle. -
Vicksburg
A decisive battle in the American Civil War; after being besieged for nearly seven weeks the Confederates surrendered. -
Emancipation Proclamation
An executive order issued on January 1, 1863, by President Lincoln freeing slaves in all portions of the United States not then under Union control (that is, within the Confederacy). -
Gettysburg Address
A speech delivered by Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War. Lincoln was speaking at the dedication of a soldiers' cemetery at the site of the Battle of Gettysburg. -
Battle of Atlanta
Its location and commercial importance, Atlanta was used as a center for military operations and as a supply route by the Confederate army during the Civil War. Therefore, it also became a target for the Union army. General William Tecumseh Sherman and his troops captured the city in 1864. -
Surrender of Appomattox
A town of south-central Virginia east of Lynchburg. Confederate general Robert E. Lee surrendered to Union general Ulysses S. Grant at the nearby hamlet of Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865, effectively ending the Civil War.
