-
Period: to
Civil War
-
Lincoln Elected
Abraham Lincolns election was very controversial at the time. He was a Northerner who was a abolitionist. His elections angered the south and slave holding states. Contributing to their withdrawing from the Union. -
Battle of Fort Sumter
On April 10, 1861, Brig. Gen. Beauregard, in command of the provisional Confederate forces at Charleston, South Carolina, demanded the surrender of the Union garrison of Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor. Garrison commander Anderson refused. On April 12, Confederate batteries opened fire on the fort, which was unable to reply effectively. At 2:30 pm, April 13, Major Anderson surrendered Fort Sumter, evacuating the garrison on the following day. The bombardment of Fort Sumter was the opening engag -
Confederate States
States began to secced before this date, but this was the beginign of the civil war. The Confederate States of America is formed. The southen ststes decided to secced to form their own country. Mainley because the south was under pressure to give up slavery and refused to do so. Even though they declared themselves their own country the northern states didnt, only seeing them as states in rebellion. -
First Battle of Bull Run
First major battle of the Civil War, General McDowell lead his trops south toward Virginia but was cut off by the Confederate army lead by "Stonewall" Jackson. After a day long battle the Confederates came out victorious. The north no longer hoped to win the war quickley. -
Trent Affair
The Trent Affair was a diplomatic incident that occurred during the war. The USS San Jacinto commanded by Captain Charles Wilkes captured two Confederate diplomats who were sailing to England onboard the British mail ship Trent on November 8, 1861. Captain Wilkes ordered his men to search the Trent and arrest James Mason and John Slidell the two Confederate agents. He then allowed the British ship to continue its journey to England. -
Battle of Pea Run
On the night of March 6, Maj. Gen. Earl Van Dorn set out to outflank the Union position near Pea Ridge, dividing his army into two columns. Learning of Van Dorn’s approach, the Federals marched north to meet his advance on March 7. This movement,compounded by the killing of two generals, Brig. Gen. Ben McCulloch and Brig. Gen. James McQueen McIntosh, and the capture of their ranking colonel,halted the Rebel attack. Van Dorn led a second column to meet the Federals in the Elkhorn Tavern and Tanya -
Union Capture New Orleans
Following the passage of forts Jackson and St. Philip, near the mouth of the Mississippi River, on April 24, 1862, the Union occupation of New Orleans was inevitable. Union Flag-Officer David G. Farragut, with his squadron, continued up the Mississippi River and demanded the surrender of the City of New Orleans the next day. The city surrendered on April 28. On May 1, Maj. Gen. Benjamin Franklin Butler’s army began landing at New Orleans and occupying the city. -
Battle of Seven PInes
On May 31, Gen. Joseph E. Johnston attempted to overwhelm two Federal corps that appeared isolated south of the Chickahominy River. The Confederate assaults, though not well coordinated, succeeded in driving back the IV Corps and inflicting heavy casualties. Reinforcements arrived, and both sides fed more and more troops into the action. Supported by the III Corps and Sedgwick’s division of Sumner’s II Corps (that crossed the rain-swollen river on Grapevine Bridge), the Federal position was fina -
Seven Days' Battles
-
Antietam
The single bloodiest battle in U.S. history. McClellan met Lee at Sharpsburg, Maryland. Hookers Union troops attacked Lee's troops starting a series of vicious attacks and counter attacks. The Union got a so called "victory" causing Lincoln to issue the Emancipation Proclimation. -
Fredericksburg
The first urban battle of the war. Unable to penetrate the Confederates defensive positions, General Burnside suffered many casualties. Burnsides utter failure at Fredericksburg led to his removal a few weeks later. -
Emancipation Proclamation
President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. This document officialy freed all slaves. -
Chancellorsville
General Ambrose E. Burnside's only battle as head of the Union Army. His total failure at Fredricksburg caused Lincoln to replace him with Hooker. Hooker surrounded the Confederate army but wasnt succesful in attack do to being caught by the wilderness. Lee and Jacksons troops were victorious over the Union. -
Battle of Gettysburg
General Lee used the majority of his force to attack General Meades forces. Confederate forces attacked the Union forces pushing them back to Cemetery Hill. Eventualy Meade fought back and forced Lee to drawback his troops, resulting in a Union Victory. -
Battle of Chickamauga
As Bragg marched north on the 18th, his cavalry and infantry fought with Union cavalry and mounted infantry which were armed with Spencer repeating rifles. Fighting began in earnest on the morning of the 19th, and Bragg’s men hammered but did not break the Union line. The next day, Bragg continued his assault on the Union line on the left, and in late morning, -
Gettysburgh Adress
Lincoln gave a very important adress at the cemetary of the battle of gettysburgh. He talked about the impact the war would have upon the country. He managed to redefine the war in one speech, stressing how important it was to reunite the Union. -
Battle of Chattanooga
On November 23-24, Union forces struck out and captured Orchard Knob and Lookout Mountain. On November 25, Union soldiers assaulted and carried the seemingly impregnable Confederate position on Missionary Ridge. One of the Confederacy’s two major armies was routed. The Federals held Chattanooga, the “Gateway to the Lower South,” which became the supply and logistics base for Sherman’s 1864 Atlanta Campaign. -
Battle of Spotsylvania
After the Wilderness, Grant’s and Meade’s advance on Richmond by the left flank was stalled at Spotsylvania Court House on May 8. This two-week battle was a series of combats along the Spotsylvania front. The Union attack against the Bloody Angle at dawn, May 12-13, captured nearly a division of Lee’s army and came near to cutting the Confederate army in half. Confederate counterattacks plugged the gap, and fighting continued unabated for nearly 20 hours in what may well have been the most fero -
The end of the war
Lee's surrender at Appomattox Court House, Virginia signaled the end of the Southern States attempt to create a separate nation. It set the stage for the emergence of an expanded and more powerful Federal government. In a sense the struggle over how much power the central government would hold had finally been settled. -
Assassination of Lincoln
Just days after the Civil War ended, President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated at Ford's Theatre. As a fractured nation mourned, a manhunt closed in on his assassin, the twenty-six-year-old actor, John Wilkes Booth.
