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Southern Secession
Over the course of a year, the Southern states of North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, Florida, Virginia, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Tennessee and Mississippi proceded to secede from the United States of America, forming the Confederate States and the United (Union) States of America. -
Abraham Lincoln is Elected
In the election of 1860, Abraham Lincoln was elected to office. This prompted the secession and creation of the Confederation of America. -
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Formal War
The fight between the North and the South, Union and Confederation, took place over this time period. During this time period, somewhere between 700,000 and 800,000 people were killed. -
Kick-off of the War: Fort Sumter
This battle, in which 5,500 Confederate soldiers took control of the fort under the command of P.G.T Beauregard, forcing Maj. Robert Anderson to surrender his force of 85 soldiers. This battle claimed no lives. -
The First Battle of Bull Run
In the first engagement, neither the Confederate nor the Union forces were adequately prepared. The forces of P.G.T Beauregard, which initially numbered 22,000, confronted a force of 37,000 Union soldiers. The battle was split, but the arrival of further Confederate forces under the command of Joseph. E. Johnston forced Union soldiers to retreat. This battle took place at Manassas Junction in Virginia -
Wilson's Creek and Pea Ridge
In Missouri, Confederate forces were laying siege to Union forces in an attempt to claim the state for the Confederates. At Wilson's Creek, some 10,000 Confederate forces destroyed 5,000 Union soldiers. At the Battle of Pea Ridge, the Union forces pushed back the Confederates, keeping Missouri under Union control.
Wilson's Creek: August 10, 1861
Pea Ridge: March 7, 1862 -
Breaking the Confederate Line
Albert S. Johnston, commander of 40,000 Confederate troops, was set to man a line in Kentucky to the Mississippi. In early 1862, George H. Thomas broke the right flank of his force, followed by a rupture central to the line by Andrew H. Foote. In the end, the Union controlled Fort Henry, Mississippi River, and Fort Donelson, Cumberland River. The total losses numbered over 16,000 for the Confederates and fewer than 3,000 for the Union. -
Fort Donelson
This fort established the first major Union victory of the Civil War. The conclusion of this battle established the terms that General Ulysses S. Grant would use for the rest of his military career, unconditional surrender. This battle also saw the surrender of about 15,000 Confederate troops under the command of General Simon B. Buckner. -
Battle's of California
During the early months of 1861, Confederate forces eyed the Western trading depos run by Union states. Henry Sibley led some 2,600 men and took Alburquerque and Santa Fe, however they were later forced to retreat in an engagement in La Glorieta Pass, where Sibley lost all but 900 men and a few of 300 supply wagons. -
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Peninsular Campaign
This campaign was a Union effort to capture the Confederate Capitol of Richmond, Virginia. It was mainly headed by George B. McClellan with a force of over 100,000 troops, who clashed with Generals Joseph E. Johnston and Robert E. Lee. This campaigns end was seen with the retreat of Union forces. The Union forces reached within striking distance of Richmond, having been stopped at White House, a town in Virginia. -
The Second Battle of Bull Run
In this battle, 56,000 Confederate soldiers under the command of General Robert E. Lee confronted 70,000 troops commanded by General John Pope. Over the course of the battle, Lee split his forces and overwhelmed many key points of the Union defense. General Pope ordered a retreat by the end of the day, August 30. This battle again took place at Manassas, Virginia. -
A Battle of Harper's Ferry
In 1862, General Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson captured Harper's Ferry, a key point in Union defense of the Capitol. This encounter saw the largest surrender of Union forces, which numbered more than 12,500. -
The Battle of Antietam
An engagement between Confederate and Union forces, this battle was an attempt by Confederate forces to over-run Maryland, in which forces headed by George B. McClellan halted Robert E. Lee's forces. McClellan was unable to eliminate Lee's force, however, and he was soon retired from his position. Considered by the Union as one of the greatest Confederate threats, this battle prevented Confederate forces from approaching Washington, D.C., the capitol of the North. -
Emancipation Proclamation
On January 1 1863, President Lincoln created an executive order, the Emancipation Proclamation. This freed slaves in Union controlled territory, unable to free slaves in the South as they considered themselves a separate country. -
The Copperheads
These Democrats were known for wishing the end of the War. They rode the tide of an idea growing in the West to break off and either join the Confederates or form a third country. They criticized Lincoln, and with a constricted view of the Constitution, they were deeply abolotionist. -
Splitting the Confederacy
Over the course of 50 days, General Ulysses S. Grants army captured Champions Hill and Big Black River. A few days later, at Port Hudson, about 6,000 rebels surrendered to Nathaniel P Banks, which divided the nation of the Confederates in half. -
New York Draft Riot
Over the course of 4 days, open discontent was displayed in New York, where protesters violently clashed and nearly 100 were killed. The protests broke out over the generally regarded inequalities of the draft, which allowed for the rich to escape being drafted. -
The Creation of West Virginia.
Early in the summer of 1861, the portion of North-western Virginia which had refused to recognize secession, was reclaimed by the Union, forcing Confederate command out of the area. These battles were headed by George B. McClellan, and we comprised of 3 main battles. These battles took place in Phillipi, Rich Mountain, and Carrick's Fort. West Virginia was admitted to the United States in 1863. -
Battle of Chattanooga
A decisive battle fought on the Tennessee River, this encounter helped secure the Union's victory. The end of this battle saw the Unions control of a significant Confederate railroad junction, with 6,000 losses on the Union side and 7,000 on the Confederate side. -
Election of 1864
In 1864, Abraham Lincoln faced election, his opponent was George B. McClellan. Winning a majority vote of 78% of soldier vote and 55% of the general populace, he secured re-election, able to continue his war efforts -
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Pinning down General Robert E. Lee's Army
Over the course of a year, from 1864 to 1865, General Ulysses S. Grant, who controlled the Union armies, worked together with General William T. Sherman to pin down the army of General Robert E. Lee. By June of 1865, Lee's forces were pinned in Virginia, shortly thereafter they were forced to retreat. The surrender of his forces came on April 2, 1865, where General Lee's army surrendered and, in effect, ended the Civil War. -
Confederate Submarine
On February 17, 1864, a Confederate operated submersible sunk the USS Housatonic, one vessel of many which formed a blockade of the South. -
Battle of the Wilderness
In this battle, General Lee quickly moved to suppress the forceful invasion brought on by Grant. This battle was the first of many clashes between the two generals, as Grants 118,000 men sought to rush into the Confederate capitol. Grant repeatedly suffered much larger losses than Lee. -
Sherman's March to the Sea
As General Hood of the Confederacy retreated from the forces of General Sherman, Sherman began to move across Georgia. In a long effort to capture Savannah, his army wreaked havoc across the state, destroying all of the economic resources in a 50 mile wide path of travel.
