Battle of Fort Sumter

• April 12, 1861: Confederates bombard Federal fort– Union forces surrender after 2 days

• Early victory for the South– Any hope of compromise vanishes

• Virginia passes resolution favoring secession– West Virginia forms and enters Union– 4 slave states (MD, DE, KY, and MI) remain in Union

• Robert E. Lee resigns from Union Army– Takes control of Confederate Army

• Both sides begin recruiting armies– Lack of volunteers will lead to conscription

Battle of Bull Run

• Lincoln pushes for early attack of the South

• July 21, 1861: Union Army advances on Richmond, VA– General “Stonewall Jackson” leads Confederates

– Union forces retreat in chaos

– Sign that victory would not be as easy as anticipated for North

• Union adopts Anaconda Plan– Blockade Southern ports

– Control Mississippi River with Union naval forces

– Capture Confederate capital of Richmond, VA

Battle of Shiloh• April 16, 1862

• General Ulysses S. Grant allows troops to rest near TN church– Wake of key victories at Ft. Henry and Ft. Donelson

– Confederates launch surprise attack

• Grant reorganizes and counterattacks next morning

• Lessons learned– Needed scouts, trenches, and fortifications

– The war will be bloody (1/4 of the troops here died)

• Appears to be a draw, BUT…– Demonstrated inability of Confederacy to hold Ohio-Kentucky frontier

– Union can take the Mississippi River

Battle of Antietam• September 17, 1862

• Confederates purse Union capital – General McClellan’s engages them along Maryland creek

• Bloodiest single day battle in American history– 26,000 casualties

– More than War of 1812 and War with Mexico combined

• Union does not attempt to complete wipe out the Confederates– McClellan fired by Lincoln

• Enough of a victory to allow Lincoln to issue Emancipation Proclamation– Goal changes from “union” to “union and freedom”

Battle of Gettysburg

• July 1 – July 3, 1863

• General Lee decides to move Confederate army into PA– Failure of Pickett’s Charge

• General George Meade leads Union Victory

• Bloodiest battle of the war– 24,000 Northern casualties– 28,000 Southern casualties

• Confederates unable to launch another attack into the North

• Turning point of the war

Sherman’s March

• September – October, 1864

• Scorched earth policy through Georgia– Make Southerners sick of war

– Burned most of Atlanta

• Move north to help Grant defeat Lee in North Carolina

• News of victory helps Lincoln win Election of 1864– Democrats ran George McClellan (former general fired by Lincoln)

Surrender at Appomattox

• April 2 – 9,1865

• Confederates abandon their capital– Set it on fire

• General Lee and General Grant meet at a VA courthouse

• Lincoln requires generous terms– Lee’s soldiers are paroled and sent home with possessions and rations

• Within 2 months, all remaining Confederate resistance ends

Ft. Sumter

Bull Run

Shiloh

Antietam

Gettysburg

Sherman’s March

Appomattox