CIVIL WAR BATTLES

US History 122

The military status in 1861 –Who’s in better shape?

First Battle of Bull Run

• AKA First Battle of Manassas• July 21, 1861

The morning of the battle

GENERAL P.G.T. BEAUREGARD – ConfederatesGENERAL IRWIN MCDOWELL - Union

The attack at noon

The Union retreats

Significance of First Battle of Bull Run:

• Confederates win• This leads to overconfidence and even

desertion• The North realized this war would be more

difficult than they had anticipated• Thomas Jackson gets the nickname

“Stonewall”

The Union Strategy(aka The Anaconda Plan)

THE WAR IN THE EAST

• Union General George McClellan begins the Peninsular Campaign in the spring of 1862

• Union troops attempt to take the Confederate capitol of Richmond, Virginia

The Peninsular Campaign

The Seven Days’ Battle

McCLELLAN DEFEATED – PENINSULAR CAMPAIGN FAILS

THE WAR ON THE RIVERS

• Union General Ulysses S. Grant wins a series of battles in 1862

Union wins atForts Henry and Donelson

• Ft. Henry on the TennesseeRiver - Feb. 5, 1862• Ft. Donelson on the Cumberland River on Feb. 15, 1862

Battle of Shiloh

• April 6-7, 1862• The Confederates won the first day• But General Grant refused to retreat• The Union won the battle• 13,000 Union and 10,000 Confederate

casualties

NAVAL BATTLE:Monitor vs. Merrimack

-In 1861 the US navy destroyed several boats in the shipyard in Norfolk, Virginia-The CSS Merrimack was only partially burnt however

The Merrimack

• The Merrimack was rebuilt with an ironclad hull as the CSS Virginia

• The Virginia destroyed ships in Chesapeake Bay and threatened the northern blockade

The Monitor

• The Union built its own ironclad in response• The USS Monitor was completed in only 100

days

USS Monitor

The Battle of Hampton Roads

• March 9, 1862• The 2 boats fought

to a draw

The Merrimack (aka Virginia) Destroyed!

• Although there was no real winner of this battle, a few months later the CSS Virginia was destroyed in port

Second Battle of Bull Run

• August 29-30, 1862• General Lee vs. General John Pope• Important Confederates include Stonewall

Jackson and James Longstreet• The Union Army reported 16,054 men killed,

wounded, or missing; Lee reported 9,197 killed, wounded, or missing.

• This was a big win for the Confederates

Battle of Antietam

• September 17, 1862 in Maryland• Confederate General Lee vs. Union General

McClellan• One of the bloodiest days of the war – Union

victory

The Confederates retreated, but the Union failed to follow

• Lincoln, McClellan, and other military leaders at the battlefield

Battle of Fredericksburg

• December 13, 1862• Confederate General Lee vs. Union General

Burnside • Confederate victory

Battle of Chancellorsville

• May 31,1863• Confederate General Lee vs. yet another

Union General -- Joseph Hooker• Confederates win• Confederate General Stonewall Jackson

accidently shot and killed

Attack on Ft. Wagner

• 1863• Unsuccessful, but the Massachusetts 54th

proved themselves

Vicksburg

• Long campaign led by Gen. Grant• Siege ended July 4, 1863• Port Hudson fell soon after and Union

controlled the Mississippi