Civil War Battles (copy)

Battle of Fort Sumter

April 12-14, 1861 \n Confederate victory \n A federal outpost in Charleston, South Carolina that was attacked by the Confederates in April 1861, sparking the Civil War.

Battle of Bull Run (First Manassas)

July 21, 1861 \n Union loss \n Showed the Union the war would not be easily won and that they needed to train their armies and leaders

Fort Henry & Donelson

February 6 and 11-16, 1862 \n Union victories \n Grant's first military success. \n elevated Brig. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant from an obscure and largely unproven leader to the rank of major general

The Peninsula Campaign

March - July 1862 \n Confederate victory \n Showed Mcclellan's weaknesses

Battle of the Monitor and Merrimack (Battle of Hampton Roads)

March 8, 1862 - March 9, 1862 \n Strategic Union victory \n history's first duel between ironclad warships and the beginning of a new era of naval warfare

Battle of Shiloh

April 6-7, 1862 \n Union Victory \n Union gained part of Mississippi River and western Tennessee

Second Battle of Bull Run

August 28-30, 1862 \n Confederate victory \n Confederate attack that helped push Union forces out of Virginia

Battle of Antietam

September 17, 1862 \n Strategic Union victory \n Allowed Lincoln to make the Emancipation Proclamation (prevents foreign powers from entering the war for slavery, provides a rationale for the war, and allows blacks to enlist in the army) \n McClellan's last battle as general

Battle of Fredericksburg

December 11-15, 1862 \n Confederate victory \n A. E. Burnside's first battle as general (Union)

Battle of Stones River

Dec. 31, 1862- Jan. 2, 1863. \n Union Victory \n loss of men hits South hard. Bloodiest one day in the west

Battle of Chancellorsville

April 30 - May 6, 1863 \n Confederate victory \n General Joseph Hooker replaced Burnside \n Stonewall Jackson is killed by his own troops

Battle of Gettysburg

July 1-3 1863 \n Union victory \n Turning point of the War that made it clear the North would win \n Battle convinced European countries not to get involved \n Gettysburg Address (redefined the Civil War as a struggle not merely for the Union, but as "a new birth of freedom" that would bring true equality to all of its citizens.)

Battle of Vicksburg

May 18 - July 4, 1863 \n Union victory \n Union gains control of Mississippi, confederacy split in two

Battle of Fort Pillow

April 12, 1864 \n Confederate victory \n African Americans fighting for the union surrender, they just kill them instead of keeping them as prisoners. White soldiers hear this and feel that this is a rallying cry

Battle of Spotsylvania Court House

May 8-21, 1864 \n Inconclusive \n One in a series of dogged attacks in Virginia by Union general Ulysses S. Grant on entrenched Confederate positions during May 1864, the battle prompted high casualties and mounting public criticism. However, Grant continued to push on until the disaster at Cold Harbor later in the month caused him to reconsider his tactics.

Atlanta Campaign

May 7 - September 2, 1864 \n Union Victory \n was a series of battles fought in the Western Theater throughout northwest Georgia and the area around Atlanta, Georgia, during the summer of 1864, leading to the eventual fall of Atlanta and hastening the end of the American Civil War

Sherman's March to the Sea

Nov. 15 to Dec. 21, 1864 \n Union \n devastating total war military campaign

Battle of the Wilderness

May 5-7, 1864 \n Inconclusive \n depleted the Army of Northern Virginia. \n One of the first examples of Trench warfare

Cold Harbor

May 31 - June 12, 1864 \n Confederate Victory \n rise in anti-war sentiment in the Northern states \n Grant called a "butcher" for killing so many troops

Siege of Petersburg

June 9, 1864 - March 25, 1865 \n Union Victory \n Only Lee's Army of Northern Virginia remained as a substantial military force to oppose the Union Army. For nine months, Grant and Lee had faced each other from 53 miles of trenches during the Siege of Petersburg. Lee's forces had been reduced to 50,000, while Grant's had grown to over 120,000. The Southern troops began to melt away as the end became clear. On April 2, Grant ordered an attack on Petersburg and broke the Confederate line. Lee and his shrinking army were able to escape.

Battle of Bentonville

March 19, 1865 - March 21, 1865 \n Union Victory \n The last and largest battle. It was between Sherman and Johnson. Johnson surrendered, and this, coupled with Lee's surrender, signaled the end of the war.

Battle of Appomattox Court House

April 9, 1865 \n Union Victory \n last battle of the Civil war \n Confederate General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia surrendered to the Union Army under Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant