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Fort Sumter
April 12-14, 1861: On April 12, 4:30 AM, southern troops opened fire on Fort Sumter. Anderson was forced to surrender after 34 hours of shelling. The fort was evacuated on the 14th by marching troops waving an American Flag to a gun salute. On the 50th round out of 100, an explosion happened causing the battles only casualties. The loss of Union property, aroused and united the North. -
First Bull Run
July 21, 1861: McDowell and his Union arm attacked the Confederates across Bull Run. The Confederates came out victorious. This battle cost some 3,000 Union casualties, compared with 1,750 for the Confederates. In the south, accusations were made on who was to blame for the Confederates failure to pursue the Union. And in the north Lincoln replaced McDowell with George B. McClellan. -
Shiloh
April 6, 1862- April 7, 1862 Confederates surprise attacked Union soldiers in Tennessee. The result was a Union victory. There were more than 23,000 casualties. Political/military outcome:
The Conferderate's General was mortally wounded.
Both sides claimed victory, but it was more of a Union victory. There were about 10,000 casualties on each side. -
Hampton Roads
March 9, 1862 – May 9, 1862 This was story’s first duel between “ironclad warships”.
The Virginia opened fire on the Minnesota and they fired back and forth. The crews lacked training. Officers reported a leak in the bow and low ammunition. Political/military outcome:
The Virginia was victorius. It marked an end to wooden navies and the South thought that they could break the Union blockade. -
Antietam
September 17, 1862 This was the first battle of the American Civil War to be fought in the north. It was the "bloodiest single day in American history" because more than 22,000 people died. Political/military outcome:
This battle gave President Lincoln enough justification to issue the Emancipation Proclamation. -
Fredericksburg
December 13, 1862:. The Union suffered nearly 13,000 casualties, while the Confederate’s suffered fewer than 5,000. Fredericksburg was a big loss for the Union. A majority of Republicans held their frustrations against Secretary of State, William Seward. They voted to remove him, and pressed Lincoln to reorganize his cabinet. The Confederate’s victory restored morale in the south after Lee was unsuccessful campaign in Maryland. -
Chancellorsville
April 30, 1863 - May 6, 1863 General Lee split his troops in two becuase the Confederates had less of an advantage number wise. Hooker fell back to defensive positions, even though he had more troops. Lee split his troups again and attacked. Hooker had to retreat. Political/military outcome:
Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson was mortally wounded. Lee was now where he needed to be so he could go to Gettysburg. -
Siege of Vicksburg
May 18 – July 4, 1863: On May 18, Grant arrived in the rear of Vicksburg. There, Pemberton had his 30,000 troops isolated. Grant controlled all approaches to Vicksburg, and the Confederates slowly started to run low on ammunition. On July 4, Pemberton surrendered the city. The capture of Vicksburg divided the Confederacy and proved that the military Union General Ulysses S. Grant was one of the best that they had to offer. Vicksburg yielded the north complete control of the river. -
Gettysburg
July 1, 1863- July 3, 1863 Lee decided to invade the North for the second time. He wanted the Confederacy to be aided by Britain and France. President Lincoln named Major General George Gordon Meade to take General Joseph Hooker's place. The Union soldiers followed the Conferderates into southern Pennsylvania. Political/military outcome:
The tide was turned of the Civil War to the Union’s favor. -
Chickamauga
September 18-20, 1863: On the first day of battle, both sides suffered big losses. Ten Union generals were wounded along with 16,000 casualties. The Confederates suffered over 20,000 casualties. This made this battle one of the costliest of the Civil War. The effect of this was Thomas helping Grant turn a loss around into a victory over the Confederates in Chattanooga -
Wilderness
May 5, 1864 – May 7, 1864 Ulysses S. Grant was appointed to be the new commander in chief of all Union armies in the Civil War. Grant wanted to take the Confederate capital of Richmond. He wanted Robert E. Lee's army to defend the capital so that Lee could not send more troops to defend against the Union soldiers going into Georgia. Political/military outcomes:
Grant refused not to retreat, so the Union still had a chance -
Spotsylvania
May 8 – May 11, 1864 Spotsylvania saw one of the Civil War’s bloodiest battles. There were 18,000 Union and 11,000 Confederate casualties. On May 11, General J.E.B. Stuart's Confederate cavalry stood against the Union cavalry at Yellow Tavern, six miles north of Richmond. The Union outnumbered the Confederate’s two to one, coming out victorious. Because of Grant’s relentless advance, Lee was forced to maneuver more between the enemy line and the Confederate’s capital -
Sherman's March to the Sea
November 22-December 21, 1864:. The Confederates lost 650 soldiers where only 62 Union soldiers were killed. The south wanted no more battles, so they fled south ahead of Sherman. Both sides raided farms, burned barns, and wrecked bridges. Yankees need the supplies and wanted to show the southerners that it wasn’t “so sweet to secede”. Sherman reached Savannah on December 21, to find the city undefended. This city was presented to Lincoln as a Christmas gift. Sherman fought a brutal battle. -
Siege of Petersburg
June 9, 1864 - April 9, 1865 This was a series of battles at the end of the Civil War that lead to the South's defeat. Political/military outcome:
Confederates were defeated by the Union. -
Lincoln's Assassination
April 14, 1865 - April 15, 1865 Lincoln sat in a private box in Ford's Theatre above the stage with his wife. John Wilkes Booth slipped into the box and fired his gun into the back of Lincoln's head. Lincoln died the next morning. Political outcome:
He was the first American president to be assassinated. Andrew Johnson was sworn in as President after President Lincoln. He was impeached in 1868.
