Union and Confederate forces fought many battles in the Civil War’s four years. Land battles were fought mostly in states west of the Mississippi River; sea battles were fought along the Atlantic coast and in the Gulf of Mexico.

Fort Sumter lay in a strategic location in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina. The South needed the fort in order to control access to this major port city. In March 1861 the fort’s commander, Major Robert Anderson sent word to Washington that he was nearly out of supplies. Without reinforcements, Sumter would soon fall to the Confederates. The president hesitated because most of the slave states that remain in the Union had threatened to secede if he used force against the Confederacy. Lincoln decided to resupply Fort Sumter, reasoning that if the Confederates fired on unarmed supply ships, then they, not the Union, would be the aggressors. April 12, 1861 South Carolina Fort Sumter was a federal fort in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina. Confederate forces staged a 24-hour bombardment against it and, by attacking federal property, had committed an act of open rebellion. To uphold the Constitution, President Lincoln believed he had no choice but to call for troops to respond against the Confederacy. As a direct result, the Civil War began.

On April 6, 1861, supply ships were on their way, but the ships carried only supplies, not troops or arms. At 4:30 A.M, on April 12 the Confederate forces opened fire on Fort Sumter. For 34 hours the Confederate bombarded Sumter. Finally, with much of the Fort ablaze and their ammunition running low, Anderson and his men formally surrendered. On April 15 Lincoln publicly announced the existence of a rebellion. He called for the states to provide 75,000 soldiers to put down the uprising. Significance = marked the beginning of the Civil War April 12, 1861 South Carolina

Virginia

Strategies Anaconda Plan King Cotton The Confederacy adopted a defensive strategy and attempted to secure alliances with more powerful countries such as Britain and France. To do that, the South needed to show it could win the war. As a result, the Confederate army attacked Union territory to draw Union troops away from the South and to impress potential allies. As the war continued, the Southern strategy became one of evading the Union army, prolonging the war, and inflicting casualties to demoralize the North. Lincoln and his military advisers adopted a three-part strategy. 1) capture Richmond, Virginia the Confederate capital; 2) to gain control of the Mississippi River; 3) to institute a naval blockade of the south. The naval blockade was a nickname the Anaconda Plan because it was designed to slowly squeeze the life out of the south like an anaconda snake. It was important because the south depended on foreign markets to sell its cotton and to buy supplies.

Tennessee

Maryland

Fredericksburg December 13, 1862 Virginia Fredericksburg was the site of a battle in December Union soldiers led a march on Richmond, but was delayed for more than two weeks because of late-arriving supplies. General Lee positioned his army, deploying snipers to pick off Federal troops. Confederate artillery decimated Union forces. Many Union soldiers were left in the open after crossing military pontoon bridges, and they became easy prey for Confederate troops. Burnside had no choice but to retreat with the remnants of his army.

Vicksburg May 2-July 9, 1863 Mississippi Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant laid siege to Vicksburg, Mississippi, because the army that controlled its high ground over a bend in the Mississippi River would control traffic on the whole river. After a seven-week siege, Grant achieved one of the Union’s major strategic goals: He gained control of the Mississippi River. Confederate troops and supplies in Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas were cut off from the Confederacy. This Union victory, coupled with the Union victory at Gettysburg, was the turning point of the war.

Pennsylvania

Brief speech at dedication to the battlefield Lincoln says this is a war to preserve the country America is not a collection of states but 1 nation of people

Sherman’s March to the Sea November 15-December 20, 1864 Union General William T. Sherman already had captured Atlanta, but he wanted to leave sixty thousand troops there while he marched the rest of his army to the Atlantic Ocean through Savannah, Georgia. During this time, Confederate General John Hood had led troops in a raid on Tennessee, leaving Sherman’s soldiers to face fewer than five thousand Confederate soldiers. Sherman’s troops burned buildings and infrastructures along the way, destroying many towns and cities. Sherman’s troops defeated the depleted Confederate army and took Savannah on December 22, As the Union army moved through the South, they destroyed train tracks by heating the rails and bending them into a bow. This became known as “Sherman’s Neckties”

April 9, 1865 General Lee surrendered his Confederate army at Appomattox Court House, Virginia, on April 9, Lee’s army had diminished, which contributed to Union General Grant’s many victories near the end of the war. In a sign of respect, Grant allowed Lee to keep his saber and horse. General Joseph Johnston was the last Confederate general who continued to fight. He still believed that the South could win the war. Johnston’s troops eventually fell to federal troops, and he surrendered to General Sherman on April 26, Virginia