Major Battles of the Civil War

Fort Sumter

Fort Sumter

• A Fort in Charleston Harbor, SC

• Bombarded April 12-13, 1861 by Confederate troops

• South forces Union troops to surrender

• Signaled the start of the American Civil War

First Manassas/Bull Run

1st Bull Run/Manassas

• July 21, 1861 near Manassas, VA

• Union Army tries to march south to capture Richmond, VA (capital of the Confederacy)

• Both armies have about 30,000 men

1st Bull Run/Manassas

• Initially, the Northern troops are winning.

• A stand by Thomas Jackson’s Virginia brigade allows the Confederates to organize and push the Federals back and turn the tide of the battle

1st Bull Run/Manassas

• RESULTS

• 3,000 Union Casualties

• 2,000 Confederate Casualties

• Confederate Victory

• Shows that the war will last much longer than people thought

1st Bull Run/Manassas

• Confusion in Battle– Inexperienced and poorly trained troops and

officers– No standardized uniforms or flags.

• Union troops wearing gray and Confederate troops wearing blue

• Confederate battle flag looked like Union flag when the wind wasn’t blowing

Early Battles (1861-1863)

• Confederates clean up in battles, such as 2nd Bull Run/Manassas (Aug. 1862), Fredericksburg (December 1862) and Chancelorsville (May 1863)

• Confederate armies are outnumbered but inflict more damage on Union forces– Largely because of poor Union, and good

Confederate leadership

Antietam

• September 17th, 1862

• Robert E. Lee wants to follow up victories in the South by invading the north

• Wants to capture Washington DC and get Maryland to join the Southern cause

Antietam

• Lee’s secret orders for troop locations are found by Federal troops but the Union general George McClellan is very slow to act.– Lee is given time to organize his army and

fight off Union attacks, even though he is outnumbered 2 to 1

Antietam

Antietam

• Battle is a draw

• Bloodiest single day in American warfare– Federal losses were 12,410, – Confederate losses 10,700.

• Gives Lincoln the “victory” he needs to pass the Emancipation Proclamation– Keeps European nations from recognizing the

Confederacy

War Sept 1862-Summer 1863

• War goes well for the Confederacy in the East.

• Winning combination of Lee and Jackson score two big victories at Fredericksburg and Chancelorsville.– Both Union armies are led by bad

commanders– Stonewall Jackson killed at Chancelorsville,

however

General Ambrose Burnside

• Cracks under the pressure of army leadership.

• Battle at Fredericksburg is poorly managed.– 15,000 Union

casualties

• Last name is rearranged to make the word “sideburns”

General Joseph Hooker

• Cracks under pressure of army leadership

• His army is defeated at Chancelorsville, even though he outnumbered his enemy 2 to 1

• Some success later in lower levels of command

Gettysburg

• July 1-3, 1863

• After several more successful battles, Lee decides to invade the north again.

Gettysburg

• Confederates win day one of the battle

• They fail to gain the high ground or flank Union positions on Day Two

• Disastrous decision to attack the Union center on Day Three (Pickett’s Charge)

High Tide of the Confederacy

Gettysburg

• RESULTS

• Union Victory/Turning point of the war

• Confederate army never goes on the offensive again

• Bloodiest battle of the war– 23,000 Union Casualties– 28,000 Confederate Casualties

Vicksburg

• Seige from May-July 1863

• Surrender of Confederates on July 4th

Vicksburg

• Port of Vicksburg on Mississippi River

• General Ulysses S. Grant tries to gain control on Mississippi River– Part of Anaconda Plan

• Grant tries head on attacks and fails– Forces Confederates into a siege

Vicksburg

• Union Victory

• Cuts Confederacy in Half

• 25,000 Confederates captured

Wilderness Campaign

• May-July 1864

• Grant takes over command of the Union Army

• Immediate goal is to capture Richmond

• His strategy is called “Total War”– Fight/destroy whatever you need to in order to

win

Wilderness Campaign

• Union army relies on manpower and industry to win

• Confederates on the defensive– They don’t have the troops or weapons to

replace their losses– Forced to rely on trenches and terrain to

make up for their smaller army

Wilderness

• Even though Grant suffered 20,000 casualties at the Wilderness (compared to Lee’s 10,000), he kept his army moving south.– Defied military convention– He wanted to keep Lee on the run and

disorganized

• Begins a two month series of battles that wears down Lee’s army

Sherman’s March to the Sea

• May-December 1864

• William Tecumseh Sherman leads Union army in Tennessee and Georgia.

• Initial focus is Atlanta Georgia

• Campaign is scheduled at the same time as Grant’s Wilderness campaign.– Designed to keep one Confederate army from

helping the other

Atlanta

• Major railroad and production center for the South.

• After a 2 month campaign, very similar to that in Virginia, Sherman captures Atlanta.

• As Union troops occupy the city, fires mysteriously break out.– Both sides blame the other

Atlanta Post-Sherman

March to the Sea

• Not Content with his victory at Atlanta, Sherman decides to gut the Confederacy and eliminate their ability to make war.

• Georgia was the heartland of the South, providing many troops and supplies.

• Sherman marched his army to the sea, ordering them to live off the land and destroy everything they didn’t use.

Impact of “Total War”

• Confederate Armies put on defensive and lose many experienced troops and commanders.

• Confederate war production destroyed.

• Confederate civilians want war to end.

• The Anaconda Plan is working!

Appomattox

• April 9th, 1865• Grant captures Richmond on April 4th,

1865 and Lee retreats towards the Shenandoah Mountains.

• He is surrounded and decides to surrender, in order to save what is left of his army.

• War is basically over.