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The first major conflict of the civil war. The South attacked the North, so the Confederates looked like the aggressor. Started the civil war. The confederacy won.

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The attack on Fort Sumter marked the official beginning of the American Civil War-a war that lasted four years, cost the lives of more than 620,000 Americans, and freed 3.9 million enslaved people from bondage.

How it ended

Confederate victory. With supplies nearly exhausted and his troops outnumbered, Union major Robert Anderson surrendered Fort Sumter to Brig. Gen. P.G.T Beauregard's Confederate forces. Major Anderson and his men were allowed to strike their colors, fire a 100-gun salute, and board a ship bound for New York, where they were greeted as heroes. Both the North and South immediately called for volunteers to mobilize for war.

In context

By 1861, the country had already experienced decades of short-lived but ultimately failed compromises concerning the expansion of slavery in the United States and its territories. The election of Abraham Lincoln as president of the United States in 1860-a man who declared "I believe this government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free"-threatened the culture and economy of southern slave states and served as a catalyst for secession. On December 20, 1860, South Carolina seceded from the United States, and by February 2, 1861, six more states followed suit. Southern delegates met on February 4, 1861, in Montgomery, AL., and established the Confederate States of America, with Mississippi senator Jefferson Davis elected as its provisional president. Confederate militia forces began seizing United States forts and property throughout the south. With a lame-duck president in office, and a controversial president-elect poised to succeed him, the crisis approached a boiling point and exploded at Fort Sumter.

Before the Battle

In Charleston, the birthplace of secession, tempers are on edge. A delegation from the state goes to Washington, D.C., demanding the surrender of the Federal military installations in the new "independent republic of South Carolina." President James Buchanan refuses to comply. Charleston is the Confederacy's most important port on the Southeast coast. The harbor is defended by three federal forts: Sumter; Castle Pinckney, one mile off the city's Battery; and heavily armed Fort Moultrie, on Sullivan's Island. Major Anderson's command is based at Fort Moultrie, but with its guns pointed out to sea, it cannot defend a land attack. On December 26, Charlestonians awake to discover that Anderson and his tiny garrison of 90 men have slipped away from Fort Moultrie to the more defensible Fort Sumter. For secessionists, Anderson's move is, as one Charlestonian wrote to a friend, "like casting a spark into a magazine,"

Adding to the major's concern is his dangerously dwindling store of supplies. On January 5, 1861, the Star of the West departs from New York with some 200 reinforcements and provisions for the Sumter garrison. As the ship approaches Charleston Harbor on January 9, cadets from the Citadel fire, forcing the crew to abandon its mission. On March 1, Jefferson Davis orders Brig. Gen P.G.T. Beauregard to take command of the growing southern forces in Charleston. On April 4, Lincoln informs southern delegates that he intends to attempt to resupply Fort Sumter, as its garrison is now critically in need. To South Carolinians, any attempt to reinforce Sumter means war. "Now the issue of battle is to be forced upon us," declared the Charleston Mercury. "We will meet the invader, and the God of Battles must decide the issue between the hostile hirelings of Abolition hate and Northern tyranny."

On April 9, Davis and the Confederate cabinet decide to "strike a blow!" Davis orders Beauregard to take Fort Sumter. The next day, three of Beauregard's aides sail to the fort and courteously demand the garrison's surrender. Anderson is equally courteous, but refuses: "I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your communication demanding the evacuation of this fort, and to say, in reply thereto, that it is a demand with which I regret that my sense of honor, and of my obligations to my Government, prevent my compliance." He also informs the delegation that the garrison's supplies will only last until April 15.

During the Battle

April 12. At 4:30 a.m., a flaming mortar shot arcs into the air and explodes over Fort Sumter. On this signal, Confederate guns from fortifications and floating batteries around Charleston Harbor roar to life. Outmanned, outgunned, undersupplied, and nearly surrounded by enemy batteries, Anderson waits until around 7:00 a.m. to respond. Captain Abner Doubleday volunteers to fire the first cannon at the Confederates, a 32-pound shot that bounces off the roof of the Iron Battery on Cummings Point.

For nearly 36 hours the two sides keep up this unequal contest. A shell strikes the flagpole of Fort Sumter, and the American colors fall to the earth, only to be hoisted back up the hastily repaired pole. Confederates fire hotshot from Fort Moultrie into Fort Sumter. Buildings begin to burn within the fort. With no more resources, Anderson surrenders Fort Sumter to Confederate forces.

April 13. At 2:30 p.m., Maj. Anderson and his men strike their colors and prepare to leave the fort. Sadly, the only casualties at Fort Sumter come during the 100-gun salute, when a round explodes prematurely, killing Pvt. Daniel Hough and mortally wounding another soldier. The attack is over, but the war had just begun.

Aftermath

Following the evacuation of Major Robert Anderson and his Federal garrison on the afternoon of April 14, 1861, Fort Sumter is occupied initially by Confederate troops of Company B of the First South Carolina Artillery Battalion and a volunteer company of the Palmetto Guard, a local militia unit. The fort remains in Confederate hands for the next four years until all Confederate forces evacuate Charleston on the evening of February 17, 1865.

Despite having surrendered, Anderson and his men are greeted as heroes when they disembark in New York. Capt. Abner Doubleday notes later that "all the passing steamers saluted us with their steam-whistles and bells, and cheer after cheer went up from the ferry boats and vessels in the harbor." Anderson's valor during the attack and commitment to duty are praised by the Union. Beauregard is also hailed for this first Confederate victory. He is later ordered to direct the troops at Bull Run.

Fort Sumter: Featured Resources

Related Battles

Charleston Harbor, SC | April 12, 1861

Result: Confederate Victory

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Early in the morning of April 12, 1861, Confederate guns around Charleston Harbor opened fire on Fort Sumter. The American Civil War was officially upon both the North and the South. A war that lasted four years and cost the lives of more than 620,000 Americans.

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First major land battle of the civil war. The union had 35,000 soldiers and the confederacy had 20,000 soldiers. At the end the Confederate won. This happened in Virginia. It made the South confident.

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First Battle of Bull Run ‑ Dates, Location & Who Won | HISTORY

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The First Battle of Bull Run was the first major battle of the American Civil War. The battle, fought in 1861 by poorly trained volunteers, ended in Confederate victory. The high casualty count from the battle made both sides realize it would be a long, costly war.

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Battle of Monitor and Merrimack March 9, 1862

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Battle of Monitor and Merrimack March 9, 1862

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The Monitor and Merrimack were both ironclad warships. This was the first naval battle between ironclads and marked the start of a new era. At first the south destroyed many wooden ships that belongs to the union, but later on the union developed their own ironclad and were able to defend themselves, so the union won.

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Battle of the Monitor and Merrimack | Summary & Facts

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Battle of the Monitor and Merrimack, naval engagement during the American Civil War on March 9, 1862, at Hampton Roads, Virginia, a harbor at the mouth of the James River, notable as history’s first duel between ironclad warships and the beginning of a new era of naval warfare.

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Farragut Captures New Orleans April, 1862

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Farragut Captures New Orleans April, 1862

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New Orleans was the biggest city of the Confederate at the time and was a major center for military strategy and a source of troops and artillery, the North occupied it from the Gulf of Mexico; this was a major win for the Union.

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New Orleans' role in the Civil War was, perhaps, as unique as the city itself. The largest city in the South at the time of the war, New Orleans provided thousands of troops and supplies to the Confederate cause. The city's location at the mouth of the Mississippi River made it a strategic port for both the Union and Confederate militaries.

During the antebellum years, New Orleans grew rapidly to be one of the liveliest cities in the nation. Much of the city's wealth was derived from the slave trade. At its peak, New Orleans housed more than 50 slave markets, and some 750,000 enslaved people were forcibly shipped to New Orleans, generating tens of millions of dollars for the New Orleans economy while changing the city's social and political fabric. In addition to slaves, more than half of all the cotton grown in the United States passed through New Orleans. Tobacco and sugar followed closely behind as top exports. By 1860, New Orleans embodied the image of the Deep South.

On January 22, 1861, Louisiana voted to secede from the Union. Seven days later, on January 29, the Secession Convention reconvened in New Orleans and decided that all Federal employees could lawfully remain at their post but were now branded employees of the state. Soon after, the New Orleans Mint began producing Confederate currency, and the fledgling Confederate Navy used the city as an ordinance depot. New Orleans shipbuilders began producing warships, including an early ironclad known as the CSS Manassas and two early submarines, the Bayou St. John and the Pioneer.

As war fever gripped the city, thousands of men and boys volunteered for service. The "Washington Artillery," a prewar militia unit that served in both the Eastern and Western Theaters of the Civil War, hailed from New Orleans, as did prominent Confederate officers P.G.T. Beauregard, Braxton Bragg, Albert Gallatin Blanchard, and Harry T. Hays. Many of the famed "Louisiana Tigers" infantry brigade also called New Orleans home. Judah P. Benjamin, another son of New Orleans, served as Confederate Attorney General, Secretary of War, and eventually Secretary of State.

From the start of the war, Union high command targeted New Orleans as a means of denying the Confederacy one of its most important ports. In January 1862, Captain David Farragut assumed command of the West Gulf Blockading Squadron and assembled his ships along the Gulf Coast and Lower Mississippi River where two brick fortifications, Fort Jackson and Fort St. Philip, ominously guarded the approach to New Orleans. Farragut, reinforced by nineteen smaller vessels and a flotilla of twenty mortar boats under Commander David Dixon Porter, ordered an extensive reconnaissance of the Confederate fortifications.

Fort Jackson and Fort St. Philip boasted heavy rifled, and smoothbore cannons that looked out across the river and its surrounding land. Around the forts stood additional auxiliary fortifications while a defensive chain, or boom, stretched across the river between both forts to prevent passage of enemy ships. As an enemy vessel struggled to break the chain, Confederate forces in the two forts could concentrate a destructive fire upon their victims. Three Confederate ironclads, two traditional warships, and several unarmed support craft stood in defense as well, in addition to six cottonclad rams of the River Defense Fleet reinforced the Confederate Navy.

On April 16, 1862, Farragut ordered the Union fleet into position below the forts. Two days later, on April 18, the mortar boats opened a destructive fire on the Confederate positions. While Fort Jackson sustained heavy damage during this barrage, both forts stood even after a second bombardment on April 19. The chain between the two forts proved a challenging obstacle to the United States Navy. Farragut ordered several gunboats to travel up the river under the cover of darkness and destroy the barrier, but the ships quickly fell into the trap. In the meantime, Farragut continued his bombardment of the forts.

On April 23, Union gunboats Pinola and Itasca finally opened a gap in the chain. At 2:00 am on April 24, the fleet advanced on the Confederate positions, with Farragut leading in the corvette Hartford. The Union ships engaged the enemy fortifications and ironclads in close combat. All ships of the Union fleet except the mortar vessels forced their way past and steamed upriver past the final Confederate fortifications. At noon on April 25, Farragut anchored his vessels in front of New Orleans. Fort Jackson and Fort St. Philip, isolated from the city, received a continuous bombardment from the Union fleet and surrendered on April 28. Federal infantry entered New Orleans soon after without further Confederate resistance.

In Confederate hands for only 455 days, New Orleans was the first major Confederate city captured. However, the citizens of New Orleans resisted Union occupation nonetheless. The Federal commander, Maj. Gen. Benjamin Butler, quickly imposed martial law over the city and ruled with an iron fist. He demanded oaths of allegiance, confiscated weapons, devised a relief plan for the poor, and jailed a large number of uncooperative citizens. Butler also ordered the inscription, "The Union Must and Shall Be Preserved," to be added to the base of the equestrian statue of General Andrew Jackson in Jackson Square. The population of New Orleans, already enraged, became even more so when they learned of Butler's seizure of $800,000 deposited in the office of the Dutch consul.

Perhaps most flagrant was Butler's General Order No. 28, which held that any woman who insulted or showed contempt for any Federal officer or soldier would be regarded and treated as a common prostitute. The order provoked protest and outrage in the North and South as well as abroad, particularly in France and England. In June 1862, Butler again met controversy when he ordered the hanging of William Munford, a Confederate sympathizer who tore down a U.S. flag over the New Orleans Mint. For his infamy, Confederate sympathizers nicknamed him "The Beast" or "Spoons Butler," for the silverware looted by some Union troops, though no evidence exists that proves Butler was personally involved in such activity.

However, amidst the storm of dissent, Butler's leadership improved the city of New Orleans in some ways. In preparation for the city's annual yellow fever strike, Butler imposed quarantines and introduced a revolutionary program of garbage disposal. While a typical year saw the New Orleans population reduced by 10% from yellow fever, Butler's measures succeeded in preventing all but two deaths from the virus.

International outrage over Butler's controversial decisions compelled his removal from the Department of the Gulf in December 1862. In his place arrived Maj. Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks, under whom the relationship between Federal troops and New Orleans' citizens improved. However, bitterness over Butler's reign loomed even after the war as Federal troops continued to occupy the city during Reconstruction.

Further Reading:

A Mortal Blow to the Confederacy: The Fall of New Orleans, 1862 By: Mark F. Bielski

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New Orleans' role in the Civil War was, perhaps, as unique as the city itself. The largest city in the South at the time of the war, New Orleans provided...

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This was a battle in Tennessee where the Union outnumbered the confederate. This battle had the highest death toll in the American continent up to date. The Union was able to get more control over the Mississippi river. The Union had a big victory.

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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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This battle was an attempt by General Robert E. Lee to move into the North and get closer to the capital by capturing Maryland. Technically the battle ended in a draw, but President Lincoln saw it as a strategic victory because it showed that the North could defend it self against the South.

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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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The battle of Fredericksburg September 17, 1862

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The battle of Fredericksburg September 17, 1862

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This battle was an attempt by the Union to move further into the confederate territory. The confederate was able to defend off the North with the help of general Robert E. Lee. The Union suffered 2 times more deaths than the North, so it was a victory for the South.

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Before the Battle

Leaving the Warrenton area on November 15, Burnside moves his 100,000-man army 35 miles to Falmouth on the north bank of the Rappahannock in just two days. Opposite Falmouth is the river port town of Fredericksburg, occupied by only a few hundred Confederates. Located halfway between Richmond and Washington D.C., Fredericksburg has largely escaped the ravages of the war. The bridges across the river there have been destroyed earlier, however, so Burnside orders portable pontoon bridges to be sent forward to his army. Arriving in Falmouth, Burnside discovers that bureaucratic and logistical tie-ups in Washington have delayed the bridges and his carefully devised plan to surprise Lee is in jeopardy.

While Burnside waits for his bridges, Lee gathers his army. Gen. James Longstreet's wing moves east from Culpeper, and Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson 's men hurry toward the Rappahannock from the Shenandoah Valley. Longstreet takes up a position on Marye's Heights, overlooking Fredericksburg from the west. To the south, Jackson's men are entrenched in a line stretching over Prospect Hill and onto Hamilton's Crossing, four miles from the town.

On November 25, Burnside's long-awaited pontoon bridges begin to arrive.

During the Battle

December 11. An engineer regiment begins to assemble the pontoon bridges opposite the town in the foggy pre-dawn hours. Confederate riflemen, hiding in buildings along the riverbank, harass the engineers and slow their work. Senior Union commanders confer as the bridging process grinds to a halt. Burnside approves a plan to shell the town and drive out the Confederate snipers. Late that morning, over 150 Federal guns arrayed on Stafford Heights bombard the Fredericksburg, blasting scores of buildings and terrifying the civilians, many of whom cower in their cellars. After four hours of shelling, the engineers return to their bridgework and the riflemen resume their shooting.

Another option is desperately needed. Burnside meets with his officers and approves a plan to send a landing party across the river to hunt down the Confederate snipers and secure a bridgehead in the town. Colonel Norman Hall, a brigade commander in the nearby Second Corps, volunteers his brigade to row across the river. Under fire, regiments from Michigan and Massachusetts successfully cross the Rappahannock and drive the riflemen from the riverbank. More Union regiments follow across the river, and the Confederates withdraw after a few hours of house-to-house fighting in the street of town.

December 12. The remainder of Burnside's army crosses the river and occupies Fredericksburg. His strategy is to use the nearly 60,000 men in Maj. Gen. William B. Franklin 's Left Grand Division to crush Lee's southern flank held by Jackson, while the rest of his army holds Longstreet in position on Marye's Heights and supports Franklin if needed.

December 13. The Union main assault against Jackson produces initial success. In an area later known as the Slaughter Pen, Maj. Gen. George G. Meade 's division briefly pierces Jackson's line and threatens the Confederate right. However, lack of coordinated reinforcements and Jackson's powerful counterattack stymie the effort. Both sides suffer heavy losses with no gain on either side.

Burnside's "diversion" against Longstreet's veteran Confederate soldiers produce horrific Union casualties. The front of Longstreet's position is a sunken farm lane at the foot of Marye's Heights, full of Confederates three ranks deep. Wave after wave of Federal soldiers advance over open ground to take the road, but each is met with devastating rifle and artillery fire from the nearly impregnable Confederate position. Confederate artillerist Edward Porter Alexander 's claim that "a chicken could not live on that field" proves to be prophetic. Lee, appalled by the carnage, remarks, "It is well that war is so terrible. We should grow too fond of it."

December 14. That evening, as darkness falls on the battlefield strewn with dead and wounded, it is clear that a Confederate victory is at hand.

December 15. Burnside retreats across the Rappahannock, ending the campaign of 1862 in the Eastern Theater.

Aftermath

After the battle, the Federals withdraw across the Rappahannock to avoid being trapped, relinquishing the gains they made. The embarrassing and crushing Union defeat sparks recriminations in Washington, causing a crisis among members of Lincoln's cabinet, which the president deftly remedies. Six weeks after the battle, Lincoln removes Burnside from command and appoints Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker commander of the Army of the Potomac.

For the Confederates, the victory at Fredericksburg boosts morale and reinvigorates Lee's Army of Northern Virginia, which goes on to triumph again at Chancellorsville in May 1863.

The war continues for two-and-a-half more years.

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Our Battle of Fredericksburg page includes history articles, battle maps, expert videos, photos, and recommended web links for this important 1862 Civil War battle in Virginia. Check out our animated battle map for Fredericksburg.

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Emancipation Proclamation January 1, 1863

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Emancipation Proclamation January 1, 1863

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Lincoln announced that all slaves in the rebellious area must be set free.

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President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, announcing, "that all persons held as slaves" within the rebellious areas "are, and henceforward shall be free."

Initially, the Civil War between North and South was fought by the North to prevent the secession of the Southern states and preserve the Union. Even though sectional conflicts over slavery had been a major cause of the war, ending slavery was not a goal of the war.

That changed on September 22, 1862, when President Lincoln issued his Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, which stated that enslaved people in those states or parts of states still in rebellion as of January 1, 1863, would be declared free. One hundred days later, with the rebellion unabated, President issued the Emancipation Proclamation declaring "that all persons held as slaves" within the rebellious areas "are, and henceforward shall be free."

Lincoln's bold step to change the goals of the war was a military measure and came just a few days after the Union's victory in the Battle of Antietam. With this Proclamation he hoped to inspire all Black people, and enslaved people in the Confederacy in particular, to support the Union cause and to keep England and France from giving political recognition and military aid to the Confederacy.

Because it was a military measure, however, the Emancipation Proclamation was limited in many ways. It applied only to states that had seceded from the Union, leaving slavery untouched in the loyal border states. It also expressly exempted parts of the Confederacy that had already come under Union control. Most important, the freedom it promised depended upon Union military victory.

Although the Emancipation Proclamation did not end slavery in the nation, it did fundamentally transform the character of the war. After January 1, 1863, every advance of federal troops expanded the domain of freedom. Moreover, the Proclamation announced the acceptance of Black men into the Union Army and Navy, enabling the liberated to become liberators. By the end of the war, almost 200,000 Black soldiers and sailors had fought for the Union and freedom.

From the first days of the Civil War, enslaved people had acted to secure their own liberty. The Emancipation Proclamation confirmed their insistence that the war for the Union must become a war for freedom. It added moral force to the Union cause and strengthened the Union both militarily and politically. As a milestone along the road to slavery's final destruction, the Emancipation Proclamation has assumed a place among the great documents of human freedom.

Transcript

By the President of the United States of America:

A Proclamation.

Whereas, on the twenty-second day of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, a proclamation was issued by the President of the United States, containing, among other things, the following, to wit:

"That on the first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, all persons held as slaves within any State or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free; and the Executive Government of the United States, including the military and naval authority thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons, and will do no act or acts to repress such persons, or any of them, in any efforts they may make for their actual freedom.

"That the Executive will, on the first day of January aforesaid, by proclamation, designate the States and parts of States, if any, in which the people thereof, respectively, shall then be in rebellion against the United States; and the fact that any State, or the people thereof, shall on that day be, in good faith, represented in the Congress of the United States by members chosen thereto at elections wherein a majority of the qualified voters of such State shall have participated, shall, in the absence of strong countervailing testimony, be deemed conclusive evidence that such State, and the people thereof, are not then in rebellion against the United States."

Now, therefore I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, by virtue of the power in me vested as Commander-in-Chief, of the Army and Navy of the United States in time of actual armed rebellion against the authority and government of the United States, and as a fit and necessary war measure for suppressing said rebellion, do, on this first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and in accordance with my purpose so to do publicly proclaimed for the full period of one hundred days, from the day first above mentioned, order and designate as the States and parts of States wherein the people thereof respectively, are this day in rebellion against the United States, the following, to wit:

Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, (except the Parishes of St. Bernard, Plaquemines, Jefferson, St. John, St. Charles, St. James Ascension, Assumption, Terrebonne, Lafourche, St. Mary, St. Martin, and Orleans, including the City of New Orleans) Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia, (except the forty-eight counties designated as West Virginia, and also the counties of Berkley, Accomac, Northampton, Elizabeth City, York, Princess Ann, and Norfolk, including the cities of Norfolk and Portsmouth[)], and which excepted parts, are for the present, left precisely as if this proclamation were not issued.

And by virtue of the power, and for the purpose aforesaid, I do order and declare that all persons held as slaves within said designated States, and parts of States, are, and henceforward shall be free; and that the Executive government of the United States, including the military and naval authorities thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of said persons.

And I hereby enjoin upon the people so declared to be free to abstain from all violence, unless in necessary self-defence; and I recommend to them that, in all cases when allowed, they labor faithfully for reasonable wages.

And I further declare and make known, that such persons of suitable condition, will be received into the armed service of the United States to garrison forts, positions, stations, and other places, and to man vessels of all sorts in said service.

And upon this act, sincerely believed to be an act of justice, warranted by the Constitution, upon military necessity, I invoke the considerate judgment of mankind, and the gracious favor of Almighty God.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.

Done at the City of Washington, this first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty three, and of the Independence of the United States of America the eighty-seventh.

By the President: ABRAHAM LINCOLN
WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State.

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EnlargeDownload Link Citation: Emancipation Proclamation, January 1, 1863; Presidential Proclamations, 1791-1991; Record Group 11; General Records of the United States Government; National Archives.

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This was the major turning point in the Civil War. The confederate was met with a devastating defeat. General Robert E. Lee lost hope and started to retreat back to the south. Lincoln had hope that the war would end swiftly.

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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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This 47-day siege allowed the North to take control of the Mississippi River. This was a critical win for the Union. This allowed the Union to split the South into 2.

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Vicksburg's strategic location on the Mississippi River made it a critical win for both the Union and the Confederacy. The Confederate surrender there ensured Union control of the Mississippi River and cleaved the South in two.

How it ended

Union victory. After a 47-day siege, Lt. Gen. John C. Pemberton's Confederate troops surrendered to Gen. Ulysses S. Grant. Together with the Union victory at Gettysburg just a day before, Vicksburg marked a turning point in the fortunes of the Union army.

In context

The Mississippi River was the primary conduit for supplies and communication through the south as well as a vital lifeline for goods going north. To Confederate President Jefferson Davis, Vicksburg was the "nailhead that holds the South's two halves together." President Abraham Lincoln remarked, "Vicksburg is the key! The war can never be brought to a close until that key is in our pocket." The Vicksburg Campaign began in 1862 and ended with the Confederate surrender on July 4, 1863. With the loss of Confederate general John C. Pemberton's army after the siege at Vicksburg and a Union victory at Port Hudson five days later, the Union controlled the entire Mississippi River and the Confederacy was split in half. Grant's victory led to his continued command in eastern Tennessee and his eventual appointment as general-in-chief of the Union armies.

Before the Battle

In the spring of 1863, Grant marches the Army of the Tennessee down the west side of the Mississippi River. The troops must rendezvous with the Union navy, which will provide transport for the river crossing into Confederate territory. On the evening of April 16, Rear Adm. David Dixon Porter sneaks his Union fleet past the Confederate batteries at Vicksburg to meet up with Grant. As the boats round De Soto Point, they are spotted by Confederate lookouts who spread the alarm. Although each vessel is hit by Confederate fire. Porter's fleet successfully fights its way past the Confederate batteries and meets up with Grant.

On April 29, Union troops attempt to cross the Mississippi at Grand Gulf. The Union fleet bombards Confederate defenses for five hours, but Grant's troops are repulsed. Grant moves farther south in search of a more favorable crossing point and eventually finds one in Bruinsburg. In the early morning hours of April 30, infantrymen of the Twenty-fourth and Forty-sixth Indiana Regiments step ashore on Mississippi soil. The two sides clash at Port Gibson and Raymond. By May 14, the state capital of Jackson, Mississippi, is in Union hands. On May 16, Grant encounters Pemberton's army and they exchange fire at Champion Hill. They clash again on May 17 at the Big Black River. Both battles result in Union victories and force the Confederates to retreat to their fortifications at Vicksburg with the Federals in hot pursuit.

During the Battle

May 18. Looking for a quick victory and not wanting to give Pemberton time to settle his garrison, Grant orders an immediate assault. Of his three corps, only Maj. Gen William T. Sherman's Fifteenth Corps, stationed northeast of the city, is in a position to attack.

May 19. Sherman's assault focuses on the Stockade Redan, named for a log stockade wall across the Graveyard Road connecting two gun positions. Here, the Twenty-seventh Louisiana Infantry, reinforced by Col. Francis Cockrell's Missouri Brigade, mans the rifle pits. Sherman's men move forward down the road at 2 p.m. and are immediately slowed by the ravines and obstructions in front of the redan. The combat is fierce and bloody outside the Confederate works. The Thirteenth United States Infantry plants its colors on the redan but can advance no further. Sherman's men pull back. Undaunted by this failure, Grant makes a more thorough reconnaissance of the defenses prior to ordering another assault.

May 22. Early in the morning, Union artillery opens fire and for four hours bombards the city's defenses. At 10 a.m. the guns fall silent and Union infantry advances on a three-mile front. Sherman attacks again down the Graveyard Road, Maj. Gen. James B. McPherson's Corps move against the center along the Jackson Road, and Maj. Gen. John A. McClernand's Corps attack to the south at the Second Texas Lunette and the Railroad Redoubt, where the Southern Railroad crosses the Confederate lines. Surrounded by a ditch 10 feet deep and walls 20 feet high, the redoubt offers enfilading fire for rifles and artillery. After intense hand-to-hand fighting, Federals breach the Railroad Redoubt, capturing a handful of prisoners. The victory, however, is the only Confederate position captured that day.

Grant's unsuccessful attacks give him no choice but to invest Vicksburg in a siege. As weeks go by, Pemberton's defenders suffer from shortened rations, exposure to the elements, and constant bombardment from Grant's army and navy gunboats. Reduced in number by sickness and casualties, the garrison of Vicksburg is spread dangerously thin. Civilians are hard hit, with many forced to live in crudely dug caves due to the heavy shelling.

June 25. Following Grant's orders to dig tunnels and set explosives under the Confederate works, Union sappers detonate a mine with 2,200 pounds of black powder, causing a huge explosion. After more than 20 hours of hand-to-hand fighting in the 12-foot deep crater left by the blast, Union regiments are unable to advance and withdraw back to their lines. The siege continues.

July 3-4. With the situation dire for the Confederates, Grant and Pemberton meet between their lines. Grant insists on an unconditional surrender, but Pemberton refuses. Later that night Grant reconsiders and offers to parole the Confederate defenders. On July 4, the 47-day siege of Vicksburg is over.

Aftermath

At 10:00 a.m. on Independence Day, some 29,000 Confederates march out of their lines, stack their rifles, and furl their flags. With Vicksburg in Union hands and the Mississippi in their control, Lincoln has great cause for optimism. On July 7, 1863, three days after the fall of Vicksburg and four after a victory at Gettysburg, the president writes to his General-in-Chief: "Major Genl Halleck: We have certain information that Vicksburg surrendered to General Grant on the 4th of July. Now, if Gen. Meade can complete his work so gloriously prosecuted thus far, by the litteral(sic) or substantial destruction of Lee's army, the rebellion will be over. Yours truly, A. LINCOLN"

Unfortunately, Lee's army escapes Meade's clutches on July 14 and crosses the Potomac River at Williamsport, Maryland, into Virginia. At a low point, a dispirited Lincoln sits down and writes to Meade "... my dear general, I do not believe you appreciate the magnitude of the misfortune involved in Lee's escape. He was within your easy grasp, and to have closed upon him would, in connection with our other late successes, have ended the war...." Lincoln never sends this angry message to his general, and the Civil War drags on.

Vicksburg: Featured Resources

Related Battles

Warren County, MS | May 18, 1863

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Our Battle of Vicksburg page includes history articles, battle maps, photos, helpful web links, recommended books, and more on this important 1863 Civil War battle in Mississippi. Learn more about Grant's victorius Vicksburg campaign.

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Gettysburg Address Given November 19, 1863 

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Gettysburg Address Given November 19, 1863 

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This address was given as a result of the win in the battle of Gettysburg. It was about the founding father and the immorality of slavery. This was one of the most important expressions of freedom.

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Image

Photograph of 1905 lithograph by Heritage Images

The Battle of Gettysburg was fought between July 1 and July 3, 1863. It was one of the bloodiest battles of the United States Civil War, with over 51,000 casualties-soldiers killed, injured, or otherwise lost to action-combined. Around 3,100 U.S. troops were killed, while 3,900 Confederates died. The U.S. victory there marked the turning point of the war.

President Lincoln was asked to deliver a message at the dedication of the Gettysburg Civil War Cemetery on November 19, 1863. The featured speaker for the occasion was Edward Everett, a former dean of Harvard University, and one of the most famous orators of his day. He spoke for two hours. Then Lincoln delivered his message; it took two minutes.

Lincoln tied the current struggle to the days of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, speaking of the principles that the nation was conceived in: liberty and the proposition that all men are created equal. Moreover, he tied both to the abolition of slavery-a new birth of freedom-and the maintenance of representative government.

Despite (or perhaps because of) its brevity, since the speech was delivered, it has come to be recognized as one of the most powerful statements in the English language and, in fact, one of the most important expressions of freedom and liberty in any language. Indeed, Everett immediately afterward wrote to Lincoln that "I wish that I could flatter myself that I had come as near to the central idea of the occasion in two hours as you did in two minutes."
"Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth, on this continent, a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived, and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting-place for those who here gave their lives, that that nation might live.

It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate-we cannot hallow-this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract.

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. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us-that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they here gave the last full measure of devotion-that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain-that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."

Director

Tyson Brown, National Geographic Society

Author

National Geographic Society

Production Managers

Gina Borgia, National Geographic Society

Jeanna Sullivan, National Geographic Society

Program Specialists

Sarah Appleton, National Geographic Society, National Geographic Society

Margot Willis, National Geographic Society

Last Updated

October 19, 2023

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In the wake of the United States Civil War's deadliest battle, President Abraham Lincoln gave the Gettysburg Address. Now praised, this speech was not always seen this way.

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General Grant leads the Union March 9, 1864

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General Grant leads the Union March 9, 1864

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General Grant won a major victory in Vicksburg. He later led the Union in Victory against the South. He also became the 18th president of the United States.

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Born Hiram Ulysses Grant, in Point Pleasant, Ohio, the future General-in-Chief's name was changed due to a clerical error during his first days at the United States Military Academy at West Point. To his friends, however, he was known simply as "Sam." After a mediocre stint as a cadet, he graduated twenty-first out of the thirty-nine cadets in class of 1843. Yet despite his less than exemplary school record, he performed well as a captain during the Mexican War (1846-1848), winning two citations for gallantry and one for meritorious conduct. Only when the fighting stopped and Grant was assigned monotonous duties at remote posts far from his wife and family did he again begin neglecting his work and drinking heavily. He resigned in 1854 to avoid being drummed out of the service.

Grant spent the next six years in St. Louis, Missouri with his wife, Julia Dent Grant. After several short-lived pursuits, including a brief episode as a farmer, he moved to Galena, Illinois to be a clerk in his family's store. When the Civil War began in 1861, he jumped at the chance to volunteer for military service in the Union army. His first command was as the colonel of the 21st Illinois Infantry, but he was quickly promoted to brigadier general in July 1861, and in September was given command of the District of Southeast Missouri.

His 1862 triumphs at Fort Henry and Fort Donelson in western Tennessee won him the nickname "Unconditional Surrender" Grant, and placed him before the public eye. However, when a surprise attack by Confederate forces at the Battle of Shiloh yielded devastating casualties during the first day's fighting, President Abraham Lincoln received several demands for Grant's removal from command. Nevertheless, Lincoln refused, stating, "I can't spare this man. He fights." The following day, Grant's Army - bolstered by troops under Maj. Gen. Don Carlos Buell - fended off Confederate advances and ultimately won the day.

Grant's hard-won victory at Vicksburg, Mississippi, in May of 1863 was a strategic masterpiece. On May 1, 1863, Grant's army crossed the Mississippi River at the battle of Port Gibson. With Confederate forces unclear of his intentions, Grant sent a portion of his army under Gen. William T. Sherman to capture the state capital, Jackson, while setting his sights on Vicksburg with a view toward permanently closing the Confederate supply base. When initial assaults on the city demonstrated the strength of Vicksburg's defenses, the Union army was forced to lay siege to the city. On July 4, 1863, after 46 days of digging trenches and lobbing hand grenades, Confederate general John Pemberton's 30,000-man army surrendered. Coupled with the Northern victory at Gettysburg, the capture of Vicksburg marked the turning point in the war. It also made Grant the premier commander in the Federal army. Later that same year, Grant was called upon to break the stalemate at Chattanooga, further cementing his reputation as a capable and effective leader.

In March 1864, President Lincoln elevated Grant to the rank of lieutenant general, and named him general-in-chief of the Armies of the United States. Making his headquarters with the Army of the Potomac, Grant was determined to crush Robert E. Lee and his vaunted Army of Northern Virginia at any cost. Though plagued by reticent subordinates, petty squabbles between generals and horrific casualties, the Federal host bludgeoned Lee from the Rapidan River to the James in what one participant would later describe as "unspoken, unspeakable history." The battles of the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, Cold Harbor and the subsequent siege of Petersburg effectively destroyed the rebel army, leading to the fall of Richmond and Lee's surrender at Appomattox Court House. Though Grant's forces had been depleted by more than half during the last year of the war, it was Lee who surrendered in 1865.

After the Civil War, President Andrew Johnson named Grant Secretary of War over the newly reunited nation. In 1868, running against Johnson, Ulysses S. Grant was elected eighteenth President of the United States. Unfortunately, though apparently innocent of graft himself, Grant's administration was riddled with corruption, and scandal.

For two years following his second term in office, Grant made a triumphal tour of the world. In 1884, he lost his entire savings to a corrupt bank. To make up some of his losses, he wrote about his war experiences for Century Magazine. They proved so popular that he was inspired to write his excellent autobiography, Personal Memoirs of U.S. Grant, finishing the two-volume set only a few days before dying of cancer at the age of sixty-three. Ulysses S. Grant is buried in New York City in the largest mausoleum of its kind in the United States. Reminiscent of Napoleon's tomb in Paris, Grant's tomb is a National Memorial.

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Civil War Trust's biography of Union Civil War General-in-Chief Ulysses S. Grant.

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The Confederates constructed a fort in Tennessee named Fort Pillow after a General. The Union tried to take over the fort but ultimately failed. Since there were many African-American soldiers the South killed them, instead of taking them to a camp.

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Table of Contents

1. Fort Pillow Massacre: Background

2. Fort Pillow Massacre: April 12, 1864

The Fort Pillow Massacre in Tennessee on April 12, 1864, in which some 300 African American soldiers were killed, was one of the most controversial events of the American Civil War (1861-65). Though most of the Union garrison surrendered, and thus should have been taken as prisoners of war, the soldiers were killed. The Confederate refusal to treat these troops as traditional prisoners of war infuriated the North, and led to the Union's refusal to participate in prisoner exchanges.

Fort Pillow Massacre: Background

In 1861, the Confederates constructed a military installation at the Fort Pillow site and named it for General Gideon Johnson Pillow (1806-78), a Tennessee native. Fort Pillow overlooked the Mississippi River and was an important part of the Confederate river defense system before it was captured by federal forces in the summer of 1862.

Despite the ferocity of the attack, Fort Pillow was of little significance to the Confederate Army, and Nathan Bedford Forrest's troops abandoned it within hours of the massacre.

In March 1864, Confederate Major General Nathan Bedford Forrest (1821-77) launched a cavalry raid in western Tennessee and Kentucky that was aimed at destroying Union supply lines and capturing federal prisoners. In early April, he determined to move on Fort Pillow, located 40 miles north of Memphis. At the time, Fort Pillow was being held by a garrison of around 600 men, approximately half of whom were Black soldiers.

Fort Pillow Massacre: April 12, 1864

On the morning of April 12, Forrest's force, estimated at 1,500 to 2,500 troops, quickly surrounded the fort. When the fort's commander, Union Maj. Lionel Booth, was killed by a Confederate sniper's bullet, the second in command, Major William Bradford took control. By 3:30 pm, Forrest demanded surrender from the Union troops. Bradford, hoping for reinforcements from Union boats arriving by the Mississippi River, called for a one-hour cease fire.

Forrest, however, spotted Union boats approaching and sent men to block the possible reinforcements. Then he declared his troops would storm the fort in 20 minutes-which they did, meeting little meaningful resistance.

While Major Bradford fled toward the Mississippi, most of the Union garrison surrendered, and thus should have been taken as prisoners of war. But Confederate and Union witness accounts attest that some 300 soldiers were gunned down by the Confederate forces, the majority of them Black. The Confederate refusal to treat these soldiers as traditional POWs infuriated the North, and led to the Union's refusal to participate in prisoner exchanges.

Union survivors' accounts, later supported by a federal investigation, concluded that African-American troops were massacred by Forrest's men after surrendering. Southern accounts disputed these findings. Forrest, himself, claimed that he and his troops had done nothing wrong and that the Union men were killed because Bradford had refused to surrender. Controversy over the battle continues today.

The Fort Pillow site is now a Tennessee state park.

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Fort Pillow Massacre: Facts, Deaths & Significance

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The Fort Pillow Massacre in Tennessee on April 12, 1864, in which some 300 African-American soldiers were killed, was one of the most controversial events of the American Civil War. Though most of the Union garrison surrendered, and thus should have been taken as prisoners of war, the soldiers were gunned down by Confederate forces.

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This election was between republican Abraham Lincoln and democrat George B. McClellan. In this election the confederate states did not participate. In the end Lincoln won.

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Hallowed Ground Magazine, Fall 2014 • Updated July 31, 2024 • September 17, 2014

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In 1864, voters were casting they ballots not only for a presidential candidate, but also to determined the broader fate of the Union.

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Sherman's March to the Sea November 15 to December 21, 1864

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Sherman's March to the Sea November 15 to December 21, 1864

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Sherman and his men marched from Atlanta to the sea destroying everything in their path. The towns in their path surrendered quickly, and even so, they brought Georgia to ruins. This was a win for the Union.

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This is an analysis of Major General William Tecumseh Sherman and his scorched-earth tactics employed during the “March to the Sea”.

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The union marched into Virginia. General Robert E. Lee Recognized their lack of power and surrendered. This was considered one of the most important surrenders of the civil war. This set the conclusion for the Civil War.

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Trapped by the Federals near Appomattox Court House, Confederate general Robert E. Lee surrendered his army to Union general Ulysses S. Grant, precipitating the capitulation of other Confederate forces and leading to the end of the bloodiest conflict in American history.

How it ended

Union victory. Lee's formal surrender to Grant at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865, brought the war in Virginia to an end. While this event is considered the most significant surrender of the Civil War, several other Confederate commanders had to capitulate and negotiate paroles and amnesty for Southern combatants before President Andrew Johnson could officially proclaim an end to the Civil War. That formal declaration occurred sixteen months after Appomattox, on August 20, 1866.

In context

General Lee's final campaign began on March 25, 1865, with a Confederate attack on Fort Stedman, near Petersburg. General Grant's forces counterattacked a week later on April 1 at Five Forks, forcing Lee to abandon Richmond and Petersburg the following day. The Confederate Army's retreat moved southwest along the Richmond & Danville Railroad. Heavily outnumbered by the enemy and low on supplies, Lee was in dire trouble. Nevertheless, he led a series of grueling night marches, hoping to reach supply trains in Farmville, Virginia, and eventually join Maj. Gen. Joseph E. Johnston's army in North Carolina. Union troops captured the valuable supplies at Farmville on April 7.

On April 8, the Confederates discovered that their army was blocked by Federal cavalry. Confederate commanders tried to break through the cavalry screen, hoping that the horsemen were unsupported by other troops. But Grant had anticipated Lee's attempt to escape and ordered two corps (Twenty-fourth and Fifth), under the commands of Maj. Gen. John Gibbon and Bvt. Maj. Gen. Charles Griffin, to march all night to reinforce the Union cavalry and trap Lee. On April 9, those corps drove back the Confederates.

Rather than destroy his army and sacrifice the lives of his soldiers to no purpose, Lee decided to surrender the Army of Northern Virginia. Three days later, a formal ceremony marked the disbanding of Lee's army and the parole of his men, ending the war in Virginia. The Grant-Lee agreement served not only as a signal that the South had lost the war but also as a model for the rest of the surrenders that followed.

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The Battle of Appomattox Court House page includes history articles, photo galleries, maps, and other recommended links for this 1865 Civil War battle in Virginia.