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fort sumter
the Confederates began firing upon Fort Sumter. The Civil War had officially begun.The first states began to secede from the union in December 1860. At that time, U.S. soldiers were stationed in South Carolina.Led by Major Robert Anderson, -
battle of antietam
The bloodiest day in U.S. military history as Gen. Robert E. Lee and the Confederate Armies are stopped at Antietam in Maryland by McClellan and numerically superior Union forces. By nightfall 26,000 men are dead, wounded,making it the bloodiest day in American history. -
The Emancipation Proclamation
Five days after the Battle of Antietam, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. This document stated that on January 1, 1863, all enslaved people in the Confederacy were emancipated, or freed. It did not apply to slave states that had stayed in the Union—Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland, and Missouri. -
battle of gettysburg
n all, about 51,000 soldiers were killed or wounded at the Battle of Gettysburg. It was the bloodiest battle ever fought in North America. Union victories at Gettysburg and later Vicksburg turned the war in favor of the North. -
battle of vicksburg
Vicksburg, the last Confederate stronghold on the Mississippi River, surrenders to Gen. Grant and the Army of the West after a six week siege. With the Union now in control of the Mississippi, the Confederacy is effectively split in two, cut off from its western allies. -
Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address
Soldiers National Cemetery, a cemetery for Union soldiers killed at the Battle Of Gettysburg during the American Civil War. The Gettysburg Address inspired the union to keep fighting. The speech made it clear that a united nation and the end of the slavery were worth fighting for. -
Appomattox Courthouse
In November 8, 1864, voters re-elected Abraham Lincoln. In March 1865, Grant was closing in on Lee at Petersburg. After the Union siege, Confederate soldiers defending the city were near starvation. On April 2, Lee took his army west, hoping to find food and gather more Confederate troops. As a result, Petersburg fell. The next day, Richmond, the Confederate capital, also fell. The war was over! -
extra
The Nation is reunited as the Civil War ends. Over 620,000 Americans died in the war, with disease killing twice as many as those lost in battle. 50,000 survivors return home as amputees