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Bull Run (Manassas Junction), Battle of

First Major battle of the Civil War and a victory for the South, it dispelled northern illusions of swift victory

Peninsula Campaign

Union general George B. McClellan’s failed effort to seize Richmond, the Confederate capital. Had McClellan taken Richmond and toppled the Confederacy, slavery would have most likely survived in the South for some time.

Fort Henry and Fort Donelson, Battle of

Key victory for Union general Ulysses S. Grant, it secured the North’s hold on Kentucky and paved the way for Grant’s attacks deeper into Tennessee.

Shiloh, Battle of

Bloody Civil War battle on the Tennessee–Mississippi border that left more than twenty–three thousand soldiers dead, wounded, or missing, and ended in a marginal Union victory.

Merrimack

Confederate ironclads, respectively, whose successes against wooden ships signaled an end to wooden warships. They fought a historic though inconclusive battle in 1862.

Monitor

Union ironclads, respectively, whose successes against wooden ships signaled an end to wooden warships. They fought a historic though inconclusive battle in 1862.

Bull Run, Second Battle of

Civil War battle that ended in a decisive victory for Confederate general Robert E. Lee, who was emboldened to push farther into the North.

Antietam, Battle of

Landmark battle in the Civil War that essentially ended in a draw but demonstrated the prowess of the Union army, forestalling foreign intervention and giving Lincoln the “victory” he needed to issue the Emancipation Proclamation.

Emancipation Proclamation

Declared all slaves in rebelling states to be free but did not affect slavery in nonrebelling Border States. The proclamation closed the door on possible compromise with the South and encouraged thousands of Southern slaves to flee to Union lines.

Thirteenth Amendment

Constitutional amendment prohibiting all forms of slavery and involuntary servitude. Former Confederate states were required to ratify the amendment prior to gaining reentry into the Union.

Fredericksburg, Battle of

Decisive victory in Virginia for Confederate Robert E. Lee, who successfully repelled a Union attack on his lines.

Gettysburg, Battle of

Civil War battle in Pennsylvania that ended in Union victory, spelling doom for the Confederacy, which never again managed to invade the North. Site of General George Pickett's daring but doomed charge on the Northern lines.

Gettysburg Address

Abraham Lincoln’s oft–quoted speech, delivered at the dedication of the cemetery at Gettysburg battlefield. In the address, Lincoln framed the war as a means to uphold the values of liberty.

Vicksburg, Siege of

Two–and–a–half–month siege of a Confederate fort on the Mississippi River in Tennessee. Vicksburg finally fell to Ulysses S. Grant in July of 1863, giving the Union army control of the Mississippi River and splitting the South in two.

Sherman’s march

Union general William Tecumseh Sherman’s destructive march through Georgia. An early instance of “total war,” purposely targeting infrastructure and civilian property to diminish morale and undercut the Confederate war effort.

Congressional Committee on the Conduct of the War

Established by Congress during the Civil War to oversee military affairs. Largely under the control of radical Republicans, the committee agitated for a more vigorous war effort and actively pressed Lincoln on the issue of emancipation.

Copperheads

Northern Democrats who obstructed the war effort by attacking Abraham Lincoln, the draft, and, after 1863, emancipation.

Union party

A coalition party of prowar Democrats and Republicans formed during the 1864 election to defeat antiwar Northern Democrats.

Wilderness Campaign

A series of brutal clashes between Ulysses S. Grant’s and Robert E. Lee’s armies in Virginia, leading up to Grant’s capture of Richmond in April of 1865. Having lost Richmond, Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox Courthouse.

Appomattox Courthouse

Site where Robert E. Lee surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant in April 1865 after almost a year of brutal fighting throughout Virginia in the “Wilderness Campaign.”

Reform Bill of 1867

Granted suffrage to all male British citizens, dramatically expanding the electorate. The success of the American democratic experiment, reinforced by the Union victory in the Civil War, was used as one of the arguments in favor of the bill.

Thomas J. Jackson

(1824–1863) Daring Confederate general and brilliant tactician, who routinely took men on long marches to outflank Union lines. He led his troops to victory at the First Battle of Bull Run (Manassas) and protected Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley from Northern invasion in the first year of the Civil War. Joining Lee at Richmond, he helped halt the Union’s Peninsula Campaign in 1862. He was killed by friendly fire at the Battle of Chancellorsville in May of 1863.

George B. McClellan

(1826–1885) Union general in command of the Army of the Potomac from 1861 to 1862, he led the failed Peninsula Campaign in 1861 and later fought Lee to a virtual stalemate at Antietam. He boosted the morale and confidence of his troops but tested Lincoln’s patience by routinely hesitating to send men into battle. In 1864, he ran against Lincoln as the Democratic nominee, campaigning against emancipation and the harsh treatment of the South while repudiating the antiwar stance of the Copperheads.

Robert E. Lee

(1807–1870) Confederate general in command of the Confederate army during the Civil War. A bold tactician, he kept his army on the offensive throughout most of the war, skillfully outmaneuvering Union armies in key battles. His fortunes reversed after his defeat at Gettysburg, though he continued to battle Union forces throughout Virginia until his surrender at Appomattox. After the war, he was indicted for treason but never charged, and he actively worked to bring about a peaceful reunion of North and South.

John Pope

(1822–1892) Union general whose army suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of Robert E. Lee in the Second Battle of Bull Run (Manassas).

A. E. Burnside

(1824–1881) Union general who replaced George B. McClellan as commander of the Army of the Potomac in 1862. He lost his command after a foolhardy attack on Lee’s forces at Fredericksburg, where more than ten thousand Union soldiers were killed or wounded.

Joseph (“Fighting Joe”) Hooker

(1814–1879) Union army general, known as "Fighting Joe" for his bold attacks on Confederate lines during McClellan’s Peninsula Campaign. He took command of the Army of the Potomac from A. E. Burnside in 1863, a post he lost just six months later after he led a failed attack on Lee’s forces at Chancellorsville.

George G. Meade

(1815–1872) Union general who led the Army of the Potomac to victory against Lee’s forces at Gettysburg. He was unable to stomach the immense human costs of his victory, refused to pursue Lee back across the Potomac, and thus lost his post to Ulysses S. Grant shortly thereafter.

George Pickett

(1825–1875) Confederate general who led the bold but ill–fated charge against Union forces at Gettysburg.

Ulysses S. Grant

(1822–1885) Ohio–born Union general and eighteenth president of the United States. During the war, he won Lincoln’s confidence for his boldness and his ability to stomach the steep casualties that victory required. First assigned to the West, He attained Union victories at Fort Donelson, Shiloh, and Vicksburg, seizing control of the Mississippi River and splitting the South in two. After taking command of the Union army, he fought Lee in a series of bloody battles in Virginia, culminating in Lee’s surrender at Appomattox. As president, he took a hard line against the South, but economic turmoil and waning support for Reconstruction undermined his efforts.

William Tecumseh Sherman

(1820–1891) Union general who led the destructive march through Georgia in 1864. A pioneer practitioner of "total war," he advocated bringing war to the civilian population to undercut morale and destroy supplies destined for Confederate troops.

Salmon Chase

(1808–1873) New England–born abolitionist who, as secretary of the Treasury, pushed Lincoln to take a tougher stance on slavery during the Civil War. In 1864, radical Republicans unsuccessfully tried to replace Lincoln with him on the Republican ticket. Later that year, Lincoln appointed him as chief justice of the Supreme Court, where he served until his death.

Clement L. Vallandigham

(1820–1871) Democratic congressman from Ohio who led the Copperhead faction of the party in opposition to the Civil War. Convicted by a military tribunal for his treasonous outbursts, he was banished to the South, though he later made his way to Canada and made an unsuccessful bid for the Ohio governorship.

John Wilkes Booth

(1838–1865) Maryland–born actor and Confederate sympathizer who assassinated Abraham Lincoln at Ford’s Theater on April 14, 1865. He died of a gunshot wound a week later after refusing to surrender to federal troops, though it is unclear if the fatal bullet came from one of the soldiers or his own revolver.