10 Major Battles of the Civil War

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10 Major Battles of the Civil War
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Notes to add in the margin

• The Civil War was fought on 3 fronts,
  corresponding to the 3 parts of the Union
  strategy
• Eastern Front attempt to capture Richmond and
  defend Washington, DC
• Western Front attempt to capture the
  Mississippi River to divide the South and western
  railroads to limit communication and troop/supply
  movement
• Blockade of southern coast to prevent them from
  receiving help from overseas

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Battle Names

• Most battles had 2 names
• North named battles after nearest river or stream
  (Bull Run, Antietam creek)
• South named battles after nearest town (Manassas,
  Sharpsburg)

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First Bull Run /First Manassas

•  State Virginia
• Date July 21, 1861 
• Southern Leader Beauregard
• Northern Leader McDowell
• Winner South

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Confederate Pierre G. T. Beauregard
Union Irvin McDowell
http//www.civilwarhome.com/beaubio.htm
http//nps-vip.net/history/portraits/mcdowell_irvi
n.htm
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• Many people came from Washington, DC to watch
  this battle for control the railroad at Manassas
  Junction.
• Confederates were losing until reinforcements
  arrived.
• Union troops panicked and retreated toward
  Washington, DC, along with the sightseers who
  clogged the roads.

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• Confederates were too weary and disorganized to
  follow.
• It was at this battle that southern General
  Thomas Jackson earned the nickname Stonewall
  Jackson because he and his troops refused to
  retreat even under heavy fire. He would become
  one of Lees most valuable lieutenants.

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Results of this battle

• 1. Both sides adopted new uniforms.(Confederate
  gray Union blue )  
• 2. The Confederacy adopted a new and easily
  distinguishable flag.  
• 3. Both sides realized that the war would not
  soon be over.

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Shiloh/Pittsburg Landing

• State Tennessee
• Western front
• Dates April 6-7, 1862
• Winner North
• Shiloh Church

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Union Ulysses S. Grant
Confederate Beauregard
http//www.civilwarhome.com/beaubio.htm
http//www.cr.nps.gov/logcabin/html/usg.html
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• In this battle, 80 of the troops were kids who
  had never heard a gun fired in anger. Many did
  not even know how to work rifles. One general
  told his troops, Its just like shooting
  squirrels, except these squirrels have
  guns.

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• After two days of fighting,the Confederates
  retreated. The victory was costly, however, The
  Union lost 13,000, and the Confederates lost
  10,000.
• This battle earned the name, Bloody Shiloh.

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2nd Bull Run/2nd Manassas

• State Virginia
• Date August 30, 1862
• Winner South
• Eastern front
• goal railroad line

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Confederate Robert E. Lee
Union John Pope
http//www.nps.gov/arho/history.htm
http//www.civilwarhome.com/popebio.htm
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• The Union army was once again pushed back to
  Washington, DC, by the Confederates.
• Union casualties 32,000 missing
  wounded or dead.
• Southern casualties 9,000.
• It was a great victory for the Confederacy
  and a crushing defeat for the Union.

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Antietam (Sharpsburg)

• State Maryland
• Date September 17, 1862
• Winner claimed by Lincoln for North

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Confederate Robert E. Lee
Union George McClellan
http//www.nps.gov/arho/history.htm
http//www.cr.nps.gov/history/online_books/hh/31/h
h31b.htm
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• Lee had good reasons for invading the North. (1)
  He hoped to bring Maryland into the
  Confederacy and (2) from there attack Washington,
  DC, Philadelphia, and (3) the rich
  farmland that would give his army supplies of
  food. He brought 50,000 dirty, ragged, and hungry
  troops into Maryland.

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• It was doomed from the beginning. The people of
  the state did not welcome troops as heroes but as
  invaders.
• Another blow happened when a Union private found
  an envelope containing Lees plans.

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• Because more than 24,000 men had been killed
  or wounded in the fighting, the battle of
  Antietam has been called the the bloodiest
  single day of the war.
• Even though both sides just stopped fighting,
  Lincoln claimed this battle as a victory for the
  North.

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• He used it as an opportunity to issue the
  Emancipation Proclamation, which freed slaves
  only in the seceding states.

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• However, this changed the nature of the war, to
  include the goal of abolishing slavery.
• Although European intervention remained a threat,
  it would now be less likely.

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Chancellorsville

• State Virginia
• Dates May 2-4, 1863
• Winner South

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Confederate Robert E. Lee
Union Joseph Hooker Fighting Joe
http//www.nps.gov/arho/history.htm
http//www.ehistory.com/world/PeopleView.cfm?PID4
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• This battle was fought in the Wilderness area
  of Virginia. The area was called this because it
  was so thick and tangled with vines that a
  soldier could only see a few yards ahead. This
  resulted in the death of Stonewall Jackson when
  he was shot by his own men who thought he was
  part of a Union cavalry charge.

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• Jackson had to have his left arm amputated and
  later died of pneumonia
• Lees comment Jackson has lost his left arm,
  but I have lost my good right arm.

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• The loss of Jackson was important because he
  seemed to be the only general under Lee who could
  carry out his battle plans.

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Vicksburg (siege and battle)

• State Mississippi
• Surrender Date July 4, 1863
• Winner North
• Western front
• Goal Mississippi River

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Confederate John C. Pemberton
Union Ulysses S. Grant
http//www.cr.nps.gov/history/online_books/hh/21/h
h21b.htm
http//www.cr.nps.gov/history/online_books/hh/21/h
h21b.htm
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• The Mississippi River was called the spinal cord
  of America and was very important to both sides
  during the war.
• Vicksburg was in a very strong defensive
  position. High, fortified bluffs overlooked the
  Mississippi River. These fortifications could
  sweep the river with cannon fire.

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• Grant had his men surround the city on three
  sides, and the Union navy prevented any ships
  from approaching the city from the river. For
  weeks the Union troops laid siege to the city.
  Finally, on July 4, Pemberton surrendered to
  Grant.

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• During the siege, many of the civilians in the
  city lived in caves because of the constant
  bombardment. They ate rats, tree bark , etc.,
  to survive.
• This battle is considered a turning point because
  the Union now controlled the Mississippi River.

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http//www.cr.nps.gov/history/online_books/hh/21/h
h21d4.htm
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Gettysburg

• State Pennsylvania
• Dates July 1-3, 1863
• Winner North
• This battle is regarded by historians as the
  turning point of the Civil War.

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Confederate Robert E. Lee
Union George Gordon Meade
http//www.nps.gov/gett/getttour/main-ms.htm
http//www.nps.gov/gett/getttour/main-ms.htm
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• The Confederate government had committed itself
  to an attack deep in Union territory. In addition
  to shocking the Union, it was hoped that this
  attack might influence England and
  France to again consider supporting the
  Confederacy.

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• It also might affect the 1864 Elections, by
  shocking enough people into voting for a peace
  party candidate to oust Lincoln.

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• General Lee massed his army together and moved on
  Pennsylvania. It would be a promised land for
  the rebel troops who were running short of food.
  They disregarded the facts that they would surely
  be outnumbered and far from their own supply
  lines.

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• Pennsylvanians were in a panic. They feared Lee
  would capture the ammunition stored at
  Harrisburg, or that he would turn toward
  Baltimore to cut off Washington, DC from
  the rest of the Union.

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• The battle started by accident. On July 1, a
  small group of rebel soldiers made their way
  toward Gettysburg in search of boots, which were
  desperately needed by the troops. They
  accidentally met a Union Cavalry unit on
  routine patrol.

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• On the third day of the battle came the most
  famous attack Picketts Charge. Pickett and his
  men made an heroic charge against an impossible
  bombardment of cannon and bullets up Cemetery
  Hill. A handful of survivors reached the summit
  of the hill and planted the Confederate flag
  before they were killed or captured.

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• The Union forces at Gettysburg had numbered about
  85,000, while the Confederate army had nearly
  75,000. Nearly 7,500 men died on the
  bloody battlefield at Gettysburg, while almost
  45,000 were wounded or missing.

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• The Union had lost about 23,000 men and the South
  nearly as many. Lee had lost nearly a third of
  his army. The big problem was that Lee had no men
  to replace those who were lost.

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• As Lee retreated southward, Meade followed him
  slowly but did not attack. The battle had been
  too costly for him to consider renewing it.
• On July 14, Lee was safely across the Potomac
  River, his own dream of victory in the North dead
  forever. Never again would the South invade the
  North.

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• This is a turning point battle.
• The defeat at Gettysburg and the loss of
  Vicksburg signaled the beginning of the
  end for the Confederacy.

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Chattanooga

• State Tennessee
• Date November 24, 1863
• Winner North
• Western Front
• Goal - railroads

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http//www.cr.nps.gov/history/online_books/hh/25/h
h25m.htm
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Confederate Braxton Bragg
Union Ulysses S. Grant
http//www.cr.nps.gov/history/online_books/hh/25/h
h25b.htm
http//www.cr.nps.gov/history/online_books/hh/21/h
h21b.htm
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• Chattanooga was important to the North as a
  railroad point. If they could control it, they
  could get supplies very easily to other Union
  troops in the South.
• When the North attacked Chattanooga, it was so
  strong that Bragg could not withstand it.

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• In Grant, Lincoln had finally found a Union
  general to take charge of the war.
• In addition, victory here opened the way for
  Shermans march to the sea.

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Atlanta to Savannah (Shermans March to the Sea)

• State Georgia
• Dates September 2-December 22, 1864
• Winner North
• Eastern Front
• Goal remove civilian assistance and will

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Confederate John Bell Hood
Union William Tecumseh Sherman
http//www.cr.nps.gov/history/online_books/hh/25/h
h25i.htm
http//www.civilwarhome.com/hoodbio.htm
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• Atlanta was the main industrial city of
  the South. The fall of Atlanta would be a
  crippling blow to the South.
• On September 2, Sherman took control of Atlanta.
  After burning the city virtually to the ground,
  he began to tear through the South to Savannah.

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• His men burned, looted, and destroyed the major
  cities of Georgia and lived off the land.
• Sherman sent a message to Lincoln by telegraph on
  Christmas Day. It said, Merry Christmas, Mr.
  President I have you a present and it is
  Savannah.

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• Sherman had inflicted over one hundred million
  dollars worth of damage in his March to the
  Sea. He was called the Scourge of the South.
• He was the first American general to use the
  military tactic of Total War.

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Surrender at Appomattox

• On April 9,1865, Lee had only 30,000 troops. He
  came near the small town of Appomattox Court
  House, Virginia, and found that he was surrounded
  on all sides by Northern troops.

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Surrender at Appomattox
Confederate Robert E. Lee
Union Ulysses S. Grant
http//www.cr.nps.gov/history/online_books/hh/21/h
h21b.htm
http//www.nps.gov/gett/getttour/main-ms.htm
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• The Union troops waited for the command to
  attack. The Rebels with their battle flags waving
  proudly prepared for the final battle. Instead, a
  single Confederate Cavalryman rode forward,
  carrying a fluttering white flag.

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• Both armies stared at the rider in silence. They
  could not believe what they were seeing! The end
  had come at last!
• I must go see General Grant, said Lee, and I
  would rather die a thousand deaths.

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• Palm Sunday, April 9, 1865 Two generals faced
  each other in the parlor of a farmhouse owned by
  Wilmer McLean. General Lee arrived dressed in a
  new uniform and carrying his ceremonial sword at
  his side. Grant arrived in his muddy field
  uniform with no weapon.

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http//www.nps.gov/apco/mchs.htm
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• The two commanders faced each other. Both wanted
  a good peace. Lee knew that the South was beaten
  and would have to make the best of whatever
  happened. Grant wanted only to prove that
  Northerners and Southerners could be fellow
  citizens again.

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• Grants terms were very generous. Each
  rebel soldier was to be allowed to go home
  undisturbed. Officers were to be allowed to keep
  their weapons and personal possessions .
  Any man who had a horse or mule was to be allowed
  to keep it.

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• At four oclock, the two men shook hands, and it
  was over.
• Lee mounted his horse, Traveller, and
  returned to his men. The Union guns began to fire
  victory volleys which were halted at once by
  Grant. We will not exult over their downfall,
  he said.