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11/6/1860
Lincoln was elected president, which enraged the south and made the south secede. He had more than half of the electoral votes, and almost 2 million popular votes.
Source: Notes that we took in class

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12/20/1860
Southern Carolina seceded from the union, who would have guessed. The main reason why one of the southern states, South Carolina, would secede would be because Lincoln became president. He prohibited slavery, which they were very against, and so they seceded to keep their rights.
Source: Notes we took in class

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04/12/1861 - 04/13/1861
Casualties: 0
This was the first battle in the civil war, pretty much the battle that kicked off the civil war. But, it had no casualties. It all started because Lincoln was going to resupply the fort, when general P.G.T Beauregard thought it was a good idea to bombard fort sumter, kicking off the battle. Confederate won.
Source: https://www.battlefields.org/learn/civil-war/battles/fort-sumter

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07/21/1861
Casualties: 4,878
The first battle of bull run was the first full scale battle in the civil war, and it presented both the north and the south with the truth about the civil war, it would be long, sweaty, and graphic. It all started when Lincoln decided to push the cautious gen, McDowell's troops were heading to capture the confederate capital in Richmond, where they were stopped by general P.G.T Beauregard's troops in Bull run. Confederate won.
Source: https://www.battlefields.org/learn/civil-war/battles/bull-run

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First Manassas (Bull Run) page with maps, photos, history articles, and preservation news

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Jefferson Davis becomes president of the Confederate States of America

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Jefferson Davis becomes president of the Confederate States of America

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02/22/1862
Jefferson Davis became president of the Confederate States of America, the Confederate States of America were the states that had seceded, there were 11 states.
Source: https://www.history.com/topics/american-civil-war/confederate-states-of-america

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The Confederate States of America was a collection of 11 states that seceded from the United States in 1860 following the election of President Abraham Lincoln. Led by Jefferson Davis and existing from 1861 to 1865, the Confederacy struggled for legitimacy and was never recognized as a sovereign nation. After suffering a crushing defeat in the Civil War, the Confederate States of America ceased to exist.

NORTH VERSUS SOUTH

The southern and northern United States began to pull apart in the 19th century, culturally and economically, with slavery at the center of the rift. As early as 1850, South Carolina and Mississippi called for secession.

By 1860, Southern politics was dominated by the idea of states' rights in the context of slavery to support the South's agricultural economy, and slave-heavy, cotton-producing agricultural states embraced secession as the solution.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN

The election of Abraham Lincoln was labeled an act of war by some Southern politicians, who predicted armies would come to seize slaves and force white women to marry black men. Secession meetings and assemblies started to appear across the South.

As secession began to seem more likely, so did war. Altercations with Union troops at Fort Sumter, South Carolina, and Fort Pickens, Florida, escalated.

Southern politicians began to procure weaponry, and some secessionists even proposed kidnapping Lincoln.

SECESSION

By February 1861, seven Southern states had seceded. On February 4 of that year, representatives from South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia and Louisiana met in Montgomery, Alabama, with representatives from Texas arriving later, to form the Confederate States of America.

Former secretary of war, military man and then-Mississippi Senator Jefferson Davis was elected Confederate president. Ex-Georgia governor, congressman and former anti-secessionist Alexander H. Stephens became vice-president of the Confederate States of America.

CONFEDERATE CONSTITUTION

The Confederacy used the U.S. Constitution as a model for its own, with some wording differences and a few changes regarding the executive and judicial branches.

The Confederate president would serve for six years with no reelection possibility, but was considered more powerful than his Union counterpart.

While the Confederate Constitution upheld the institution of slavery, it prohibited the African slave trade.

CONFEDERATE ENLISTMENT

Davis predicted a long war and requested legislation allowing three-year enlistments. The military affairs office, however, anticipated a short conflict and granted the authority to call up troops for only one year of service.

On March 9, 1861, Davis called up 7,700 volunteers from five states, joining volunteers in South Carolina. By mid-April, 62,000 troops were raised and stationed in former Union bases.

CIVIL WAR BEGINS

On April 12, 1861, following diplomatic bickering over Lincoln's pledge to get supplies to Union troops at Fort Sumter, Confederate forces fired shots at the fort and Union troops surrendered, sparking the Civil War.

In rapid succession, Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee and Arkansas joined the Confederacy.

In May, Davis made Richmond, Virginia, the Confederate capital. The city was soon filled with some 1,000 government members, 7,000 civil servants, and scores of rowdy Confederate soldiers itching for battle.

The First Battle of Bull Run took place on July 16, 1861, and ended with a Confederate victory.

CONFEDERATE ARIZONA

The Arizona Territory voted to join the Confederacy in March 1861, but it wasn't until 1862 that the territorial government got around to officially proclaiming it part of the Confederate States of America.

Several battles took place within the territory, and in 1863, Confederate forces were vanquished from the Arizona Territory, which was claimed as Union and then split into two territories, the second being the New Mexico Territory.

MARTIAL LAW AND MANDATORY SERVICE

Most of the work of the Confederate government involved trying to wage the Civil War without the appropriate means, a domino effect that sometimes rendered it helpless.

In February 1862, Davis was granted the authority to suspend habeas corpus, which he did immediately until July 1864, and to declare martial law, which Davis did many times during the war.

Problems with adequately arming the troops, as well as getting supplies to them, hampered war efforts. The brief one-year enlistment also caused problems because as the war dragged on, rates of volunteering and re-enlistment fell.

Davis was soon forced to make military service mandatory for all able-bodied males between 18 and 35 years old. Later exemptions were made for owners of 20 slaves or more. Regardless, Union troops radically outnumbered the Confederate troops.

A SHORTAGE OF MEN

The draft created a deficit in civilian manpower to police the slave population. States created separate courts to try slaves because of elevated disobedience levels. Paranoia rose, and some hoped to remedy it through conscripting slaves into military service.

There was also a severe shortage of white workers. Out of need, the Confederacy employed both free and enslaved blacks at a higher rate during the war, using blacks to support the troops with services and by working in hospitals as nurses and orderlies.

CONFEDERACY IN CHAOS

State governors found themselves continually in conflict with Davis about government overreach challenging their sacred states rights, especially federal conscription laws.

The military exacerbated the situation: As the war dragged on, some troops prowled the countryside to rob civilians. Others rounded up civilians for random (often unfounded) infractions, infuriating local authorities.

The federal government reflected this chaos. Davis saw his authority repeatedly challenged, almost facing impeachment. Davis feuded regularly with Vice-President Stephens, bickered with generals, often had to reconstruct his cabinet and faced repeated backlashes from previously supportive newspapers.

FINANCIAL DISASTER

The chaos in government spread outward. The Confederacy was plagued by major economic problems throughout the war, unable to keep up with the production boom in the industrialized north and incapable of overcoming the export limitations brought on by war.

As the war neared its end, the Confederacy was crippled by severe infrastructure problems that it could not afford to fix and was desperate for supplies. With banks decimated and closing, it attempted to pay for its needs with IOUs.

CONFEDERATE LOSSES

Despite further conscription efforts, Confederate forces dwindled to about one-third the manpower of their Union foes. Davis faced opposition in Congress and attempted to save his position by restructuring military leadership.

Militarily, the Confederacy saw considerable losses on the battlefields, and Atlanta and Chattanooga were taken by Union forces, which continued to advance.

Increasing numbers of Confederate soldiers were deserting and returning home. The Conscript Bureau was closed in 1865, no longer able to find men to draft.

ARMING THE SLAVES

The concept of drafting and arming slaves was a recurring issue throughout the Confederacy's existence, and it almost became a reality just before the fall of the rebel nation.

In the final session of Congress in 1865, Davis proposed the federal government purchase 40,000 slaves for military work followed with some form of emancipation. In March, Congress voted to arm slaves, but offered no emancipation.

General Order 14 resulted, which would immediately give freedom to slaves who served in the military. Recruiting and training black soldiers began.

Some members of Congress, however, began to make amends with the Union. Resignations began to pile up in the president's cabinet.

Three weeks later, Richmond fell, and Davis fled to North Carolina.

CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMERICA COLLAPSES

On April 9, Confederate General Robert E. Lee and his famed Army of Northern Virginia surrendered to Union General Ulysses S. Grant.

Despite Davis' order for a new phase of war shifting to guerrilla tactics, many troops followed Lee and also surrendered.

By May, Confederate officials announced the government had ended. Davis refused to give up hope, but was captured by Union forces in Georgia in May 1865, and sent to prison for two years. He never backed down on his devotion to the Confederate cause.

The Civil War officially ended on May 13, 1865, and the Confederate States of America ceased to exist.

SOURCES

Look Away: A History of the Confederate States of America. William C. Davis.
The Confederate Nation: 1861 to 1865. Emory M. Thomas.
The Civil War. National Parks Service.

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The Confederate States of America was a collection of 11 states that seceded from the United States in 1860 following the election of President Abraham Lincoln. Led by Jefferson Davis and existing from 1861 to 1865, the Confederacy struggled for legitimacy and was never recognized as a sovereign nation.

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04/6/1862 - 04/7/1862
Casualties: 23,746
This war is also known as the battle of Pittsburg landing. When General Ulysses S. Grant moved toward Mississippi, the Confederates were alerted and that is how the battle started. The Union won.
Sources: https://www.battlefields.org/learn/civil-war/battles/shiloh

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Our Battle of Shiloh page includes history articles, battle maps, photos, web links, and the latest preservation news for this important 1862 Civil War battle in Tennessee.

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08/28/1862 - 08/30/1862
Casualties: 22,177
McClellan was threatening the confederate capital in Richmond, with the biggest army that had ever been assembled. Three union forces were pushing toward McClellan's army, but McClellan caught them. Union won.
Source: https://www.battlefields.org/learn/civil-war/battles/second-manassas

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Battle of Second Manassas Facts & Summary

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After the spring 1862 collapse of the Union Peninsula Campaign to capture Richmond, Gen. Robert E. Lee sought to move his army north and threaten Washington DC before Union forces could regroup. His commanders, Maj. Gens. "Stonewall" Jackson and James Longstreet, brought Lee's army within 35 miles of the Union capital by the end of August.

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09/16/1862 - 09/18/1862
Casualties: 22,717
The battle of Antietam was known as the deadliest one day battle in history, Robert E. Lee had invaded Maryland, and McClellan had to fight back. Lincoln counted on McClellan to win. Union won.
Source: https://www.battlefields.org/learn/civil-war/battles/antietam

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Battle of Antietam page - battle maps, history articles, photos, and preservation news on this important 1862 Civil War battle in Maryland.

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07/1/1863 - 07/3/1863
Casualties: 51,112
Described as " the bloodiest single battle of the conflict." this battle was not a joke. Both the union and the confederates were heading for the same road in Gettysburg, when they reached conflict. Union won.
Source: https://www.battlefields.org/learn/civil-war/battles/gettysburg

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The Battle of Gettysburg marked the turning point of the Civil War. With more than 50,000 estimated casualties, the three-day engagement was the bloodiest single battle of the conflict.

How it ended

Union victory. Gettysburg ended Confederate general Robert E. Lee 's ambitious second quest to invade the North and bring the Civil War to a swift end. The loss there dashed the hopes of the Confederate States of America to become an independent nation.

In context

After a year of defensive victories in Virginia, Lee's objective was to win a battle north of the Mason-Dixon line in the hopes of forcing a negotiated end to the fighting. His loss at Gettysburg prevented him from realizing that goal. Instead, the defeated general fled south with a wagon train of wounded soldiers straining toward the Potomac. Union general Meade failed to pursue the retreating army, missing a critical opportunity to trap Lee and force a Confederate surrender. The bitterly divisive war raged on for another two years.

Before the Battle

On June 3, soon after his celebrated victory over Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker at the Battle of Chancellorsville, Gen. Robert E. Lee leads his troops north in his second invasion of enemy territory. The 75,000-man Army of Northern Virginia is in high spirits. In addition to seeking fresh supplies, the depleted soldiers look forward to availing themselves of food from the bountiful fields in Pennsylvania farm country, sustenance the war-ravaged landscape of Virginia can no longer provide.

Hooker also heads north, but he is reluctant to engage with Lee directly after the Union's humiliating defeat at Chancellorsville. This evasiveness is of increasing concern to President Abraham Lincoln. Hooker is ultimately relieved of command in late June. His successor, Maj. Gen. George Gordon Meade, continues to move the 90,000-man Army of the Potomac northward, following orders to keep his army between Lee and Washington, D.C. Meade prepares to defend the routes to the nation's capital, if necessary, but he also pursues Lee.

On June 15, three corps of Lee's army cross the Potomac, and by June 28 they reach the Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania. While Lee loses precious time awaiting intelligence on Union troop positions from his errant cavalry commander, Gen. Jeb Stuart, a spy informs him that Meade is actually very close. Taking advantage of major local roads, which conveniently converge at the county seat, Lee orders his army to Gettysburg.

During the Battle

July 1. Early that morning a Confederate division under Maj. Gen. Henry Heth marches toward Gettysburg to seize supplies. In an unplanned engagement, they confront Union cavalry. Brig. Gen. John Buford slows the Confederate advance until the infantry of the Union I and XI Corps under Maj. Gen. John F. Reynolds arrives. Reynolds is killed in action. Soon Confederate reinforcements under generals A.P. Hill and Richard Ewell reach the scene. By late afternoon, the wool-clad troops are battling ferociously in the sweltering heat. Thirty thousand Confederates overwhelm 20,000 Federals, who fall back through Gettysburg and fortify Cemetery Hill south of town.

July 2. On the second day of battle, the Union defends a fishhook-shaped range of hills and ridges south of Gettysburg. The Confederates wrap around the Union position in a longer line. That afternoon Lee launches a heavy assault commanded by Lieut. Gen. James Longstreet on the Union left flank. Fierce fighting rages at Devil's Den, Little Round Top, the Wheatfield, the Peach Orchard, and Cemetery Ridge as Longstreet's men close in on the Union position. Using their shorter interior lines, Union II Corps commander Maj. Gen. Winfield S. Hancock and others move reinforcements quickly to blunt Confederate advances. On the Federal right, Confederate demonstrations escalate into full-scale assaults on East Cemetery Hill and Culp's Hill. Although the Confederates gain ground on both ends of their line, the Union defenders hold strong positions as darkness falls.

July 3. Believing his enemy to be weakened, Lee seeks to capitalize on the previous day's gains with renewed attacks on the Union line. Heavy fighting resumes on Culp's Hill as Union troops attempt to recapture ground lost the previous day. Cavalry battles flare to the east and south, but the main event is a dramatic infantry assault by 12,500 Confederates commanded by Longstreet against the center of the Union position on Cemetery Ridge. Though undermanned, the Virginia infantry division of Brig. Gen. George E. Pickett constitutes about half of the attacking force. Pickett, ordered by Lee to advance his division toward the enemy through a mile of unprotected farmland, replies, "General, I have no division," but the order stands. During Pickett's Charge, as it is famously known, only one Confederate brigade temporarily reaches the top of the ridge-afterwards referred to as the High Watermark of the Confederacy. This daring strategy ultimately proves a disastrous sacrifice for the Confederates, with casualties approaching 60 percent. Repulsed by close-range Union rifle and artillery fire, the Confederates retreat. Lee withdraws his army from Gettysburg late on the rainy afternoon of July 4 and trudges back to Virginia with severely reduced ranks of wasted and battle-scarred men.

Aftermath

As many as 51,000 soldiers from both armies are killed, wounded, captured or missing in the three-day battle. The carnage is overwhelming, but the Union victory buoys Lincoln's hopes of ending the war. With Lee running South, Lincoln expects that Meade will intercept the Confederate troops and force their surrender. Meade has no such plan. Even as Lee's escape is hampered by flooding on the Potomac, Meade does not pursue them. When Lincoln learns of this missed opportunity on July 12, he laments, "We had only to stretch forth our hands & they were ours." Months later, in November 1863, a portion of the Gettysburg battlefield becomes a final resting place for the Union dead. President Lincoln uses the dedication ceremony at the Gettysburg's Soldiers' National Cemetery to honor the fallen and reassert the purpose of the war in his historic Gettysburg Address:
The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced.

Gettysburg: Featured Resources

Related Battles

Adams County, PA | July 1, 1863

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In the summer of 1863, Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee launched his second invasion of the Northern states. Forces collided at the crossroads town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania from July 1-3, 1863. It resulted in an estimated 51,000 casualties on both sides, the bloodiest single battle of the entire war.

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Robert E. Lee surrenders to Union General Ulysses S. Grant

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Robert E. Lee surrenders to Union General Ulysses S. Grant

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04/9/1865
Robert E. Lee surrendered the union to General Ulysses S. Grant, where Ulysses would win and make a name for himself, by winning the battle of Shiloh.
Source: https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/grants-greatest-battles/

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Ulysses S. Grant | Article

Ulysses S. Grant and his Generals on horseback. 1865, Library of Congress.

As a cadet at West Point, Ulysses S. Grant was an indifferent student. But as a young soldier in the Mexican War, he had carefully studied the work of generals such as Zachary Taylor and Winfield Scott. When he took command of his own troops in the Civil War, Grant combined what he had learned with his own considerable talents to win an impressive string of battlefield victories. He made his reputation in Tennessee, at Fort Donelson and at the Battle of Shiloh. Of his later victories, three that stood out were the Vicksburg, Chattanooga, and the Overland campaigns.

At Vicksburg, Mississippi, Grant hoped to break the Confederate grip on the Mississippi River once and for all. If the Union controlled the Mississippi, the Confederacy would be broken in half. Confederate forces in the East could no longer receive supplies and troops sent from the West. But taking the city proved a challenge. The city sat on high bluffs overlooking the river. From the bluffs, Confederate guns could rain fire on any Union boat. North of the city lay a tangle of thick woods and swamps. Marching men through them was impossible.

In a campaign beginning in late 1862, Grant did everything he could think of to get at Vicksburg. First, Grant tried to secure a foothold north of the city. He sent troops under General; William Tecumseh Sherman down the Mississippi in boats to the place where the Yazoo River flowed into the Mississippi. Sherman and his men steamed up the Yazoo to attack Confederate forces at Chickasaw Bluffs. The attack, made on December 29, failed. In early 1863, Grant tried to hack a channel through the swamps north of Vicksburg. He hoped to float his men through the channel and attack Vicksburg from the North. Midwestern farm boys eager to fight rebels found themselves waist deep in mud and sawing trees eight feet under water. The task proved impossible.

The solution that finally brought victory was a bold one. Grant moved his men across the Mississippi to the west bank of the river. Then, he marched them south until they were below Vicksburg. On the night of April 16, 1863, Grant sent a fleet of gunboats and supply barges down the river in an attempt to push past the Confederate guns. Despite heavy Confederate fire, the ploy succeeded.

Now south of Vicksburg, Grant ferried men and supplies across the river. In a risky move he had learned from Winfield Scott in the Mexican War, Grant cut himself off from his supply lines except for ammunition and medical supplies. He battled his way to Vicksburg and attacked the city, but was unable to break the Confederate line around it. Still, he had his enemy completely surrounded. Grant ordered his men to dig in, and after a two-month siege, the starving Confederates surrendered. From the Confederate commander, Simon Bolivar Buckner, Grant demanded unconditional surrender. The Mississippi belonged to the Union, and Grant was a hero.

At Chattanooga, Tennessee, in September 1863, it was Union troops who were in danger of being starved out. There, the Army of the Cumberland under General William S. Rosecrans was nearly surrounded by Confederates under General Braxton Bragg. Only one road allowed supplies in; food was scarce and winter closing in. Abraham Lincoln understood the danger of losing an entire army. To prevent it, he named Grant commander of all forces from the Appalachians to the Mississippi, and ordered him to rescue Rosecrans.

After replacing the nervous Rosecrans with the steadier George H. Thomas, Grant began the campaign that would save the Union from disaster. First, Grant called forward the Army of the Tennessee, which he placed under Sherman's command. Then, he worked to bring much-needed supplies to the Union troops.

Grant ordered 8,000 troops under General G. M. Dodge to rebuild the railroad from Nashville to Stevenson, just a short distance from Chattanooga. Within 40 days, Dodge and his men repaired 102 miles of railroad track and rebuilt 182 bridges. The supply line to Union troops at Nashville was secured, and Grant began to bring in food and weapons.

The battle began on November 23, as Union forces drove back a part of the Confederate line. As he had at Vicksburg, Grant used river transport skillfully. That night, he floated 116 boats down the Tennessee River past the city. These troops pushed back Confederates on the Chattanooga side of the river and built a pontoon bridge. The bridge was used to bring Sherman's troops across the river.

Now supplies and men could be brought across the Tennessee to prepare for an attack. On November 24, forces under General Joseph Hooker took Lookout Mountain and silenced the Confederate guns. The next day, troops under Sherman overcame heavy resistance to break through the main Confederate line on Missionary Ridge. Bragg's Army retreated, and Grant had won another victory.

Grant 's Overland Campaign was his last big push against Confederate General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. At the beginning of May 1864, Grant started toward the Confederate capital at Richmond with 118,000 men. Grant hoped to get around Lee's line and capture Richmond. But his large army could not move fast enough to outmaneuver the smaller Confederate force.

Grant met Lee's army of 64,000 on May 5, in a thick Virginia forest known as the Wilderness. The savage clash that followed horrified even the most experienced soldiers. Men charged blindly through the dense thickets, often firing at an enemy they couldn't see. The air seemed alive with bullets, which shattered branches and even mowed down trees. Dead bodies lay in heaps, sometimes with wounded men trapped under them. Forest fires consumed the wounded men who were too hurt to crawl away.

When the two-day battle ended, Grant had lost almost 18,000 men -- 6,000 more than Lee had. The Army of the Potomac expected to retreat, as they had in all their previous Virginia engagements. But that evening, as Grant rode past the soldiers, they broke out cheering. He was headed South, toward Richmond, not back to Washington in retreat.

To Grant, even the heavy losses in the Wilderness signified a victory. The Confederates had no reserves to replace the dead and wounded. But Grant could call on a huge supply of civilians to fill the Union armies.

Just two days later, on May 8, Grant and Lee clashed again at a crossroads called Spotsylvania Courthouse. Grant hoped to get there before Lee, and take a position between Lee and Richmond. But when Grant's troops arrived, they found the crossroads occupied by Confederates.

On May 10, Grant ordered a direct attack on Lee's line, but failed to break through. For nine more days, Grant ordered charge after charge against Confederate trenches. Union soldiers fought bravely, sometimes even battling the Confederates hand to hand. But Lee's line held. Grant lost more than 18,000 men at Spotsylvania -- probably twice as many as Lee.

Grant's next lunge toward Richmond resulted in one of the Union's worst defeats. At Cold Harbor, Virginia, on June 3, the Union once again smashed against Lee's defenses. Although Grant spent little time on the field that day, he ordered the attacks, which were directed by General George Gordon Meade. Union soldiers charged the Confederate lines repeatedly and without artillery support; the slaughter was incredible. Over the 12 days of fighting in the area, the Union lost some 12,000 men; the Confederates lost nowhere near that number.

Despite this terrible defeat, Grant kept trying to crush Lee and take Richmond. Next, the Union commander set his sights on Petersburg, a city to the south of Richmond. Petersburg served as an important rail link to the Confederate capital. On June 15 and 18, 1864, Grant struck at Petersburg. He failed to take the city, but held it under siege. Just as he had at Vicksburg, Grant starved the Confederates out. It took him nine months, but Grant knew that while he had Lee's army pinned down, other Union armies were destroying the South.

On April 2, 1865, Lee retreated from Petersburg. On April 3, the Union took Richmond. Four days later, in a letter to Grant, Lee indicated he would be willing to surrender. The two leaders met at Appomattox Court House. There, Grant proposed his terms of surrender. Lee's men would be allowed to keep their side arms, horses, and personal property. They would not be held as prisoners, and could go home. Lee accepted these terms, and surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia on April 9, 1865.

On April 26, General Joseph E. Johnston surrendered the last significant Confederate army to General William Tecumseh Sherman at Durham Station, North Carolina. The Civil War ended. Ulysses S. Grant's final campaign had worked as he had intended. At the cost of thousands of Union soldiers' lives, he had beaten the fight out of the Confederacy.

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Grant's Greatest Battles | American Experience | PBS

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Ulysses S. Grant | Article As a cadet at West Point, Ulysses S. Grant was an indifferent student. But as a young soldier in the Mexican War, he had carefully studied the work of generals such as Zachary Taylor and Winfield Scott.