Major Civil War Events

Follow the path to review for the Civil War.

Fort Sumter

• April 12, 1861
• Charleston, South Carolina
• Union Army (North) vs. Confederate Army (South)
• The Confederate Army attacked and captured Fort Sumter
• This battle began the Civil War

1st Bull Run

• July, 1861
• Manassas, Virginia
• General Irvin McDowell (Union) vs. General Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson (Confederate)
• Union Army wanted to control the railroad line to Richmond, Virginia
• Confederate Army earned the first major victory in the Civil War

Shiloh

• April 6, 1862
• Shiloh, Tennessee
• General Ulysses S. Grant (Union) vs. General A.S. Johnston (Confederate)
• Union wanted to control the Mississippi River and cut supply lines
• Union win and control Mississippi River Valley

2nd Bull Run

• August, 1862
• Manassas, Virginia
• General George B. McClellan (Union) vs. General Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson (Confederate)
• Union wanted to capture Richmond, Virginia the capital of the Confederacy
• Confederate victory that gave them momentum

Antietam

• September 17, 1862
• Antietam, Maryland
• General George B. McClellan (Union) vs. General Robert E. Lee (Confederate)
• Confederates wanted to earn a victory on Union soil
• Bloodiest battle in U.S. History was a victory for the Union

Emancipation Proclamation

President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. It was part of a two-part plan that guaranteed freedom to slaves in the Union and some Confederate states. The Confederate government claimed Lincoln could not issue laws over states in which he had no political control. The first plan, enacted on September 22, 1862, freed slaves in Confederate states that had not yet rejoined the Union. The second part took effect on January 1, 1863, applying to specific states, but not to the border states such as Maryland and West Virginia.

Vicksburg

• May-July, 1863
• Vicksburg, Mississippi
• General Ulysses S. Grant (Union) vs. General John C. Pemberton (Confederate)
• Union wanted to control the Mississippi River near New Orleans
• Confederate surrender and Union controls the west and Mississippi River

Gettysburg

• July 1-3, 1863
• Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
• General George G. Meade (Union) vs. Generals Robert E. Lee and George Pickett (Confederate)
• Confederate wanted to gain foreign support through a major victory
• Turning point of the war, stopped Confederate advance

Gettysburg Address

Abraham Lincoln delivered this famous speech on November 19, 1863, to a crowd gathered at the dedication of Soldier’s National Cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The speech contains only two hundred seventy-two words, but it is considered one of the greatest speeches in American history.

Sherman's March to the Sea

• July, 1864- December, 1864
• Atlanta and Savannah, Georgia
• General William Tecumseh Sherman (Union) vs. Confederate Army
• Sherman wanted to break the will of the Confederacy and ruin their economy
• Sherman destroyed rail roads, crops, and businesses on his way to ending the war

Surrender at Appomattox Courthouse

• Appomattox, Virginia
• April 9, 1865
• General Ulysses S. Grant (Union) and General Robert E. Lee (Confederate)
• Union surround Confederates near Richmond, Virginia
• Lee surrenders to Grant ending the Civil War

Lincoln's Assasination

President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated at the end of the Civil War. He was killed on April 14, 1865, while attending a play at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C., with his wife and two other people. Lincoln was watching Our American Cousin when John Wilkes

Booth shot him in the back of the head.

Booth was a loyal Confederate, and he thought the Confederacy could triumph if Lincoln were dead. Booth jumped off the balcony and broke his ankle, but managed to escape the theater. Lincoln died of his fatal wound the next morning.

Effects of the War

• Civil War lasts 4 years
• 620,000 soldiers die during the war
• Slavery ends
• Southern economy is ruined
• Southern states rejoin the Union

Sources

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(cc) image by anemoneprojectors on Flickr

Major Events of the Civil War

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