APUSH: Civil War

Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson

Confederate general who earned his nickname by holding the line with reinforcements at the First Battle of Bull Run. He was later accidentally shot by his own men and died at Chancellorsville.

George B. McClellan

Union General nicknamed "Little Mac" who organized the Army of the Potomac. Known for being stubborn, paranoid, and highly reluctant to move. He led the Peninsula Campaign (failed) and Antietam, after which Lincoln permanently removed him. He later ran against Lincoln as a Copperhead Democrat in the Election of 1864.

Abraham Lincoln

16th President of the United States during the Civil War. Issued the Emancipation Proclamation, delivered the Gettysburg Address, and won re-election in 1864.

General Winfield Scott

Mexican-American War hero and early military advisor to Lincoln. He designed the Anaconda Plan to defeat the Confederacy.

Robert E. Lee

The main commander of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia. He won numerous tactical victories but was eventually forced to surrender to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Courthouse.

Frederick Douglass

Famous African American abolitionist and author who actively advocated for enlisting former slaves to fight for the Union Army.

George G. Meade

Union General who replaced Hooker right before the Battle of Gettysburg, where he successfully defeated Lee's invasion.

Ulysses S. Grant

Union General who won key victories in the West (Ft. Henry, Ft. Donelson, Shiloh, Vicksburg, Chattanooga). Promoted to General-in-Chief, he waged the brutal Wilderness Campaign and accepted Lee's surrender.

General William Tecumseh Sherman

Union General who practiced total war. He marched through Georgia ("Sherman's March to the Sea"), destroying infrastructure and demoralizing the South.

John Wilkes Booth

Southern actor and Confederate sympathizer who assassinated Abraham Lincoln at Ford’s Theater on April 14, 1865.

Jefferson Davis

The first and only President of the Confederate States of America.

Ironclad

A wooden steamship heavily armored with thick iron plating. Examples include the Union's Monitor and the Confederacy's Merrimack (CSS Virginia).

Four Border States

Missouri, Maryland, Kentucky, and Delaware. (Slave states that remained loyal to the Union).

Copperheads vs. War Democrats

Copperheads: Peace Democrats who wanted to negotiate immediate peace with the South and opposed Lincoln.

War Democrats: Democrats who supported Lincoln and the military effort to preserve the Union.

The Union Party (1864)

A temporary political coalition formed in 1864 between Republicans and War Democrats to back Lincoln's re-election and demonstrate national unity.

Fort Sumter (Apr. 12-14, 1861)

Major Anderson moved Union troops here. South Carolina demanded evacuation; Seward wanted to surrender it, but Lincoln refused. Confederates under Beauregard opened fire, marking the first shots of the Civil War.

First Battle of Bull Run / Manassas (July 1861)

First major land battle (East). Spectators treated it like a sporting event. McDowell's green Union troops attacked Beauregard, but Stonewall Jackson held the line, forcing a chaotic Union retreat.

The Anaconda Plan

Winfield Scott’s strategy to strangle the South:

1. Blockade southern harbors (cut off cotton sales/weapons imports).

2. Control the Mississippi River (split the Confederacy in half).

3. Capture the capital of Richmond, Virginia.

The Peninsula Campaign (1862)

McClellan's plan to invade Richmond via the Yorktown Peninsula. He inched forward slowly, was delayed by J.E.B. Stuart's cavalry, and was ultimately driven back to the sea by Robert E. Lee's counterattack.

Second Battle of Bull Run (Aug. 1862)

Fought in the East. Lee intercepted Union General John Pope at Manassas Junction. Pope was utterly defeated and forced to retreat, leading to McClellan's temporary return to command.

Battle of Antietam (Sept. 17, 1862)

Fought in Maryland (East). Lee's battle plans were found wrapped around cigars by Union cavalry. McClellan halted Lee's invasion on the bloodiest single day of the war. Lee retired across the Potomac, and McClellan was permanently fired for failing to pursue him.

Battle of Hampton Roads (Monitor v. Merrimack)

First clash of ironclad ships. Confederates rebuilt the wooden Merrimack into the iron CSS Virginia. John Ericsson built the Union’s Monitor. They fought to a 4-hour draw on Day 2; the Confederates later destroyed their own ship to keep it from being captured.

Battle of Fredericksburg (Dec. 1862)

Union General Burnside tried to cross the river to attack Lee, but Lee blocked him. Burnside launched disastrous frontal assaults against fortified high ground and failed miserably, yielding command to Joseph Hooker.

Battle of Chancellorsville (May 1863)

Stonewall Jackson brilliantly flanked Hooker’s surprised army, causing massive Union losses. Meade replaced Hooker immediately after. However, Jackson was accidentally shot by his own men and died.

Battle of Gettysburg (July 1-3, 1863)

The turning point in the East.

• Day 1: Union secures the high ground.

• Day 2: Confederates attack the Union flanks.

• Day 3: Lee makes a "big mistake," thinking the Union center is weak, and orders Pickett's Charge up Cemetery Ridge—a disastrous blunder.

The Emancipation Proclamation (Context & Timing)

After Second Bull Run, Lincoln knew he needed to change the game by targeting Southern "property" (slaves). His cabinet warned that doing so during a string of losses would look like a desperate measure and make the US look weak, so they waited for a military victory (Antietam).

The Emancipation Proclamation (Terms & Scope)

Released Jan 1, 1863, it declared that slaves in states currently in rebellion were freed forever. Crucially, it did not apply to loyal Border States or Union-occupied areas. It also allowed Black men to enlist in the Union military, stripping the South of valuable labor resources.

The Gettysburg Address (Theme & Purpose)

It shifted the purpose of the war: while it started strictly to stop secession and preserve the Union (even allowing slavery to exist where it was), it became a fight for a "new birth of freedom" dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

The Gettysburg Address (Historical Framing)

He used the phrase "Four score and seven years ago" (4×20+7=87 years ago) to point directly back to 1776 (The Declaration of Independence and the birth of a nation based on equality) rather than 1787 (the Constitution, which compromised on slavery).