1. Battle Stations - Civil War

2. Battle of Fort Sumter April 12, 1861

3. Battle of Fort Sumter DateFriday, April 12, 1861 Weather~63° F, mostly cloudy LocationFort Sumter, Charleston Harbor, South Carolina Union ForcesConfederate Forces CommandersMajor Robert AndersonGeneral P.G.T. Beauregard Casualties Force: 85 Killed: 2 Wounded: 9 Captured: 0 Force: 500 Killed: 0 Wounded: 4 Captured: 0

4. Battle of Fort Sumter Fort Sumter was a federal fort in the harbor at Charleston, South Carolina, a state which had seceded from the Union and joined the Confederacy. President Lincoln informed Governor Francis Wilkinson Pickens of South Carolina of his intention to resupply the fort. Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederacy, decided that the fort must not be resupplied and ordered its capture. Confederate General Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard ordered the bombardment of Fort Sumter early in the morning of April 12, 1861. The cannons fired for two days while Union forces held out. Major Robert Anderson, the Union commander of the fort, was short of ammunition, food, and men. Unable to prevent the fort’s capture, he was forced to surrender the fort on April 14. The news of Fort Sumter’s capture caused Lincoln to call for 75,000 volunteers to retake federal property. Virginia, Arkansas, North Carolina, and Tennessee promptly seceded and joined the Confederacy. The country was at war.

5. First Battle of Bull Run July 21, 1861

6. First Battle of Bull Run DateSunday, July 21, 1861 Weather~90° F, sunny and humid LocationManassas, Virginia Union ForcesConfederate Forces Commanders Brigadier General Irvin McDowell Joseph E. Johnston General P.G.T. Beauregard Casualties Force: 28,00 – 35,000 Killed: 460 Wounded: 1,124 Captured: 1,312 Force: 32,000 - 34,000 Killed: 387 Wounded: 1,682 Captured: 13

7. First Battle of Bull Run Citizens in both the Union and the Confederacy thought the war would be short and swift with few casualties. Young men on both sides were eager to volunteer to fight. They were afraid they would miss the entire war if they did not enlist right away. The Confederates wanted another quick victory to boost Southern morale and convince the North to make peace. The Union commander, General Irvin McDowell, wanted to get his men into battle before their 90-day enlistment period was up. On the morning of July 21, 1861, McDowell attacked the Southern fortifications at Manassas Junction in Virginia. Union troops were poorly trained and lightly equipped. They expected an easy victory. Ladies and gentlemen in buggies, children, Congressmen, reporters, and other civilians (often carrying picnic lunches) followed the army to watch the battle. The battle was a confusion of small fights and inexperienced combat on both sides. The Northern forces were routed and forced to retreat right through the ranks of the civilian spectators. It was a serious defeat for the North and an indication that this war would not be easy.

8. Battle of Antietam September 1862

9. Battle of Antietam DateSunday, September 17, 1862 Weather ~73° F, foggy and damp in the morning, clearing with a light wind later in the day LocationAntietam Creek near Sharpsburg, Maryland Union ForcesConfederate Forces Commanders Major General John B. McClellan General Robert E. Lee Casualties Force: 95,000 Killed: 12,401 Wounded: 9,540 Captured: 753 Force: 18,000 Killed: 1,546 Wounded: 7,752 Captured: 1,018

10. Battle of Antietam By 1862, the Confederate army had begun an attempt to gain territory in the North. Part of this operation was called the Maryland Campaign. The Confederate army had won a series of battles and was looking to extend itself further into the North. In order to accomplish this goal, they had to secure supply routes from the South into the North. Maryland was a border state and, although it was located in the North, was still a slave-holding state and its citizens were divided in their loyalty to the Union and Confederate states. In September 1862, General Robert E. Lee marched his troops into Maryland hoping to achieve a Confederate victory and gain British recognition of the Confederate States of America as a nation. On September 17, 1862, Lee’s 18,000 troops, backed up against Antietam Creek near the town of Sharpsburg, were attacked by some of McClellan’s 95,000 Union troops. The attack was poorly designed and disorganized, but the fighting was bloody. Union forces were unable to defeat or destroy the Army of Northern Virginia, but they did halt its advance into the North. This was the single bloodiest day of the war with over 23,000 casualties. After the battle, President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation which freed all of the slaves held in the Confederate states.

11. Siege of Vicksburg May-July 1863

12. Siege of Vicksburg DateMay 18, 1863 – July 4, 1863 Weather~90° F, hot and humid LocationVicksburg, Warren County, Mississippi Union ForcesConfederate Forces Commanders Major General Ulysses S. Grant Lt. General John C. Pemberton Casualties Force: 77,000 Killed or Wounded: 10,142 Captured: 302 Force: 40,000 Killed or Wounded: 9,091 Captured: 29,495

13. Siege of Vicksburg Vicksburg, Mississippi was the last Southern stronghold on the Mississippi River. General Ulysses S. Grant was determined to take the city and cut the Confederacy in half. Despite the destruction of much of his supply line by Confederate forces, Grant marched his men over 180 miles in 17 days, fought five major battles, and surrounded the city. There were not enough Union troops to completely surround the city, so Grant used his troops to cut off supplies to the city and isolate it from any help the Confederacy might want to offer it. With support from Union naval ships, Grant’s artillery pounded the city. So many houses in Vicksburg were destroyed that civilians began living in caves they dug out of the hills inside the city. This led Union soldiers to start calling Vicksburg “Prairie Dog Village”. On July 4, 1863, Vicksburg finally surrendered. By this time, its weary citizens and defending army were both starving. Control of this city gave the Union forces control of the Mississippi River. As a result of this victory, it was nearly 80 years before the city of Vicksburg, Mississippi celebrated Independence Day.

14. Battle of Gettysburg July 1863

15. Battle of Gettysburg DateJuly 1, 1863 – July 3, 1863 Weather~85° F, cloudy and humid with thunderstorms in the area LocationGettysburg, Pennsylvania Union ForcesConfederate Forces Commanders Major General George G. Meade General Robert E. Lee Casualties Force: 93,921 Killed: 3,155 Wounded: 14,531 Captured: 5,369 Force: 71,699 Killed: 4,708 Wounded: 12,693 Captured: 5,830

16. Battle of Gettysburg Hoping to bring the war to an end, Confederate General Robert E. Lee decided to invade the North again and take advantage of the war weariness of Union citizens. Confederate and Union forces clashed by accident at Gettysburg, a small town in Pennsylvania. During three days of brutal warfare, Lee tried to destroy the Union armies and convince the North to accept the division of the country. Fighting with fewer men, less supplies, and unable to secure a military advantage on the ground, Lee’s army was halted and defeated by Union forces. On the final day of the attack, a charge led by Confederate General George Pickett’s troops failed. Lee was forced to retreat back to Virginia, having lost about one third of his forces. Union dead and wounded numbered over 20,000. On November 19, 1863, four and a half months after the battle, President Lincoln gave a speech at Gettysburg as part of a ceremony dedicating a cemetery for the soldiers who died in the battle. This speech, which has come to known as the Gettysburg Address, is considered to be one of the greatest speeches in American history. It reminded people of the ideals in the Declaration of Independence and called for a “new birth of freedom” for all Americans.

17. Battle of Atlanta July 1864

18. Battle of Atlanta DateJuly 22, 1864 Weather~90° F, hot and humid LocationAtlanta, Georgia Union ForcesConfederate Forces Commanders William T. Sherman James B. McPherson John Bell Hood Joseph E. Johnston Casualties Force: 100,000 Killed: 500 Wounded: 2,141 Captured: 1,000 Force: 51,000 Killed: 2,482 Wounded: 4,000 Captured:2,017

19. Battle of Atlanta On July 22, 1864, Union General William Sherman laid siege to the city of Atlanta, Georgia, with the intent of breaking the back of the Confederacy. In six weeks of bitter fighting, the Union forces gradually surrounded the city of Atlanta and wore down the defending Confederate army. The Confederate army was barely able to escape before Sherman’s troops completely surrounded the city in late August. On September 2, 1864, Sherman entered Atlanta. The defeat of Atlanta convinced the war-weary North that the end of the war was in sight and also led to the reelection of President Lincoln in November. After taking Atlanta, General Sherman took 62,000 men and marched across Georgia to the sea. He was determined to destroy the South’s ability to wage war and feed her armies. He created a path of destruction as wide as 60 miles, and destroyed at least 100 million dollars in property. The army captured food, freed slaves, destroyed railroad lines, and burned many farms. Sherman’s army captured Savannah, Georgia on December 21, 1864 which he offered to President Lincoln as a Christmas gift.

20. Battle of Appomattox Court House April 9, 1865

21. Battle of Appomattox Court House DateSunday, April 9, 1865 Weather~°65 F, Sunny LocationAppomattox Court House, Virginia Union ForcesConfederate Forces Commanders Lt. General Ulysses S. Grant General Robert E. Lee Casualties Force: 100,000 Killed or Wounded: 8,628 Captured: 0 Force: 57,829 Killed or Wounded: 29, 578 Captured: 28,251

22. Battle of Appomattox Court House After the Confederate capital city of Richmond, Virginia was captured by Union forces, Confederate General Robert E. Lee attempted to link up with other Southern armies, but he was halted by Union cavalry at Appomattox Station in Virginia. Lee determined that his men no longer had any serious hope of victory. They were out of food, short of ammunition, and their numbers were terribly reduced by long years of fighting. Union General Ulysses Grant accepted Lee’s surrender at the home of Wilmer McLean in the town of Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865. Grant was generous in his surrender terms. He allowed the Confederate officers and men to return to their homes and offered food to the half-starved rebel army. The formal surrender of the troops occurred three days later. The war was over, although some minor clashes still occurred in the next few weeks.

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