# data[].attributes.body
-July 21, 1861
-Federal forces attempted to cross Bull Run but were turned back
-First full-scale battle of the Civil War
-Confederate
https://www.loc.gov/rr/geogmap/placesinhistory/archive/2011/20110721_firstbullrun.html#:~:text=July%2021%2C%201861&text=Federal%20forces%20under%20General%20Irvin,the%20defenses%20of%20Washington%2C%20DC. https://www.loc.gov/rr/geogmap/placesinhistory/archive/2011/20110721_firstbullrun.html#:~:text=July%2021%2C%201861&text=Federal%20forces%20under%20General%20Irvin,the%20defenses%20of%20Washington%2C%20DC.

# data[].attributes.body
-April 12-13, 1861
-Confederate States of America attacked the US military at the fort
-Signaled the start of the Civil War
-Confederate win
-https://www.battlefields.org/learn/civil-war/battles/fort-sumter#:~:text=Confederate%20victory.,P.G.T%20Beauregard's%20Confederate%20forces.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
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

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
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.

# data[].attributes.body
-March 9, 1862
-General Grant led victory over the confederacy in Civil War
-One of the biggest leaders for the Union
-https://www.whitehouse.gov/about-the-white-house/presidents/ulysses-s-grant/#:~:text=Grant%20led%20the%20Union%20Armies,remove%20the%20vestiges%20of%20slavery.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
In 1865, as commanding general, Ulysses S. Grant led the Union Armies to victory over the Confederacy in the American Civil War. As an American hero, Grant was later elected the 18th President of the United States (1869-1877), working to implement Congressional Reconstruction and to remove the vestiges of slavery.

# data[].attributes.headline
Fight Between the Monitor and the Merrimack

# data[].attributes.subject
Fight Between the Monitor and the Merrimack

# data[].attributes.body
-March 9, 1861
-The Monitor's actions prevented the destruction of the Union Navy
-Protection of Union
-https://www.britannica.com/event/Battle-of-the-Monitor-and-Merrimack

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Battle of the Monitor and Merrimack | Summary & Facts

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
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.

# data[].attributes.body
-April 6-7, 1862
-Two day conflict was at this point the bloodiest battle in American history
-More than 23,000 Americans dead or wounds
-Union
-https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/battle-shiloh/

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
On April 7, 1862, the Battle of Shiloh ended with a United States (Union) victory over Confederate forces in Pittsburg Landing, Tennessee.

Subjects

Geography, Physical Geography, Social Studies, U.S. History

On April 7, 1862, the Civil War's Battle of Shiloh ended with a United States (Union) victory over Confederate forces in Pittsburg Landing, Tennessee. The two-day conflict was at that point the bloodiest battle in American history, with more than 23,000 dead and wounded. (This gruesome distinction was surpassed a year later by the Battle of Gettysburg, which resulted in more than 47,000 casualties.) The Battle of Shiloh was a crucial success for the Union Army, led by Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's Army of the Tennessee (named for the river, not the state). It allowed Grant to begin a massive operation in the Mississippi Valley later that year. This culminated in the brutal Vicksburg Campaign, which targeted the "fortress city" of Vicksburg, Mississippi-the last Confederate-controlled area along the Mississippi River. The Battle of Shiloh also robbed the Confederacy of one of her most capable leaders, Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston. Former Confederate President Jefferson Davis later said Johnston's death was "the turning point of our fate."

Media Credits

The audio, illustrations, photos, and videos are credited beneath the media asset, except for promotional images, which generally link to another page that contains the media credit. The Rights Holder for media is the person or group credited.

Writer

National Geographic Society

Producer

National Geographic Society

other

Last Updated

October 19, 2023

For information on user permissions, please read our Terms of Service. If you have questions about how to cite anything on our website in your project or classroom presentation, please contact your teacher. They will best know the preferred format. When you reach out to them, you will need the page title, URL, and the date you accessed the resource.

Media

If a media asset is downloadable, a download button appears in the corner of the media viewer. If no button appears, you cannot download or save the media.

Text

Text on this page is printable and can be used according to our Terms of Service.

Interactives

Any interactives on this page can only be played while you are visiting our website. You cannot download interactives.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
On April 7, 1862, the Battle of Shiloh ended with a United States (Union) victory over Confederate forces in Pittsburg Landing, Tennessee.

# data[].attributes.body
-April 1862
-David Farragut led a fleet of 24 gunboats, 19 mortar boats, and 15,000 soldiers in a run past forts
-Union gains power of New Orleans
-Union
-https://www.britannica.com/event/Battle-of-New-Orleans-American-Civil-War-1862

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
This article was most recently revised and updated by

Battle of New Orleans, (April 24-25, 1862), naval action by Union forces seeking to capture the city during the American Civil War. A Union naval squadron of 43 ships under Admiral David G. Farragut entered the lower Mississippi near New Orleans and soon breached the heavy chain cables that were stretched across the river as a prime defense. Realizing that resistance was useless, Confederate General Mansfield Lovell withdrew his 3,000 troops northward, and the city fell on April 25. On May 1 General B.F. Butler led 15,000 Union troops into the city to take command for the remainder of the war. The permanent loss of New Orleans was considered one of the worst disasters suffered by the Confederacy in the western theatre of the war.

Amy Tikkanen.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Battle of New Orleans | Andrew Jackson, British Invasion, Louisiana

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Battle of New Orleans, (April 24-25, 1862), naval action by Union forces seeking to capture the city during the American Civil War. A Union naval squadron of 43 ships under Admiral David G. Farragut entered the lower Mississippi near New Orleans and soon breached the heavy chain cables that were

# data[].attributes.body
-April 1862
-David Farragut led a fleet of 24 gunboats, 19 mortar boats, and 15,000 soldiers in a run past forts
-Union gains power of New Orleans
-Union
-https://www.britannica.com/event/Battle-of-New-Orleans-American-Civil-War-1862

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
This article was most recently revised and updated by

Battle of New Orleans, (April 24-25, 1862), naval action by Union forces seeking to capture the city during the American Civil War. A Union naval squadron of 43 ships under Admiral David G. Farragut entered the lower Mississippi near New Orleans and soon breached the heavy chain cables that were stretched across the river as a prime defense. Realizing that resistance was useless, Confederate General Mansfield Lovell withdrew his 3,000 troops northward, and the city fell on April 25. On May 1 General B.F. Butler led 15,000 Union troops into the city to take command for the remainder of the war. The permanent loss of New Orleans was considered one of the worst disasters suffered by the Confederacy in the western theatre of the war.

Amy Tikkanen.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Battle of New Orleans | Andrew Jackson, British Invasion, Louisiana

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Battle of New Orleans, (April 24-25, 1862), naval action by Union forces seeking to capture the city during the American Civil War. A Union naval squadron of 43 ships under Admiral David G. Farragut entered the lower Mississippi near New Orleans and soon breached the heavy chain cables that were

# data[].attributes.body
-September 17, 1862
-Robert E. Lee and the army try to invade the North but are unsuccessful.
-Showed that North could defend their land
-Union
-https://www.battlefields.org/learn/civil-war/battles/antietam#:~:text=Antietam%2C%20the%20deadliest%20one%2Dday,of%20strength%20rather%20than%20desperation.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Antietam, the deadliest one-day battle in American military history, showed that the Union could stand against the Confederate army in the Eastern theater. It also gave President Abraham Lincoln the confidence to issue the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation at a moment of strength rather than desperation.

How it ended

Inconclusive. General Robert E. Lee committed his entire force to the battle, while Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan sent in less than three quarters of his. With the full commitment of McClellan's troops, which outnumbered the Confederates two to one, the battle might have had a more definitive outcome. Instead, McClellan's half-hearted approach allowed Lee to hold ground by shifting forces from threat to threat.

In context

Lee invaded Maryland in September 1862 with a full agenda. He wanted to move the focus of fighting away from the South and into Federal territory. Victories there, could lead to the capture of the Federal capital in Washington, D.C. Confederate success could also influence impending Congressional elections in the North and persuade European nations to recognize the Confederate States of America. On the other side, President Abraham Lincoln was counting on McClellan to bring him the victory he needed to keep Republican control of the Congress and issue a preliminary Emancipation Proclamation.

Before the Battle

The first Confederate invasion of Union-held territory is not going as planned. After a Union victory at the Battle of South Mountain and a Confederate victory at the Battle of Harpers Ferry, Confederate general Robert E. Lee opts to make one last stand in the hopes of salvaging his Maryland Campaign.

With Federal forces closing in from the east, Lee selects strategic ground near Antietam Creek and orders his army to converge there. A mile east of the town of Sharpsburg, the creek meanders through the hilly but open countryside, good for long-range artillery and moving infantry. The water is deep, swift, and crossable only at three stone bridges, making it a natural defensible location. On September 15, Lee positions his men behind the creek and waits for McClellan to arrive.

On the afternoon of September 16, Union general George B. McClellan sets his army in motion, sending Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker's First Corps across Antietam Creek to find Lee's left flank. At dusk, Hooker bumps into Confederate general John Bell Hood's division and the two forces skirmish until dark. The following morning, McClellan attacks.

During the Battle

September 17. The Battle of Antietam begins at dawn when Hooker's Union corps mounts a powerful assault on Lee's left flank. Repeated Union attacks and equally vicious Confederate counterattacks sweep back and forth across Miller's cornfield and the West Woods. Hooker sees thousands of his Federals felled in the corn rows, where, "every stalk of corn in the northern and greater part of the field was cut as closely as could have been done with a knife, and the slain lay in rows precisely as they had stood in their ranks a few moments before." Despite the great Union numerical advantage, Lt. Gen. Stonewall Jackson's Confederate forces hold their ground near the Dunker Church.

Meanwhile, towards the center of the battlefield, Union assaults against the Sunken Road pierce the Confederate center after a terrible struggle for this key defensive position. Unfortunately for the Union, this temporal advantage in the center is not followed up with further advances and eventually the Union defenders must abandon their position.

In the afternoon, the third and final major assault by Maj. Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside's Ninth Corps pushes over a bullet-strewn stone bridge at Antietam Creek. (Today it's called Burnside Bridge.) Just as Burnside's forces begin to collapse the Confederate right, Maj. Gen. A.P. Hill's division charges into battle after a long march from Harpers Ferry, helping drive back the assault and saving the day for the Army of Northern Virginia.

Aftermath

There are more than 22,000 casualties at the Battle of Antietam. Doctors at the scene are overwhelmed. Badly needed supplies are brought in by nurse Clara Barton, known as the "Angel of the Battlefield." During the night, both armies tend their wounded and consolidate their lines. In spite of his diminished ranks, Lee continues to skirmish with McClellan on September 18, while removing his wounded south of the Potomac River. Late that evening and on September 19, after realizing that no further attacks are coming from McClellan, Lee withdraws from the battlefield and slips back across the Potomac into Virginia. McClellan sends Maj. Gen. Fitz John Porter to mount a cautious pursuit, which is repulsed at the Battle of Shepherdstown.

While the Battle of Antietam is considered a tactical draw, President Lincoln claims a strategic victory. Lincoln has been waiting for a military success to issue his preliminary Emancipation Proclamation. He takes his opportunity on September 22. The Proclamation, which vows to free the slaves of all states still in rebellion as of January 1, 1863, will forever change the course of the war and the nation by marrying the Union cause with an attack on the institution of slavery. Hesitant to support a pro-slavery regime, England and France decline to form an alliance with the Confederate States of America.

After McClellan fails to pursue Lee on his retreat south, Lincoln loses faith in his general. Weeks later, he names Burnside commander of the Army of the Potomac.

Antietam: Featured Resources

Related Battles

Washington County, MD | September 17, 1862

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Battle of Antietam page - battle maps, history articles, photos, and preservation news on this important 1862 Civil War battle in Maryland.

# data[].attributes.body
-December 11, 1862
-The first opposed river crossing in American military history
-The Civil War first instance of urban combat
-Confederate
-https://www.battlefields.org/learn/civil-war/battles/fredericksburg#:~:text=With%20nearly%20200%2C000%20combatants%E2%80%94the,first%20instance%20of%20urban%20combat.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
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.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
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.

# data[].attributes.body
-January 1, 1863
-Signed proclamation saying all slaves in free territory are now free
-Got enslaved people to join the Unions side
-https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/emancipation-proclamation#:~:text=President%20Abraham%20Lincoln%20issued%20the,and%20henceforward%20shall%20be%20free.%22

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
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.

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

# data[].attributes.body
-May 18 - July 4, 1863
-Event that gave control of the Mississippi River to the Union
-Helped Union travel and trade
-Union
-https://www.history.com/topics/american-civil-war/vicksburg-campaign

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Battle of Vicksburg: Siege, Battlefield & Park - HISTORY

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The Battle of Vicksburg, and the subsequent Siege of Vicksburg, were decisive victories for the Union over the Confederacy during the U.S. Civil War.

# data[].attributes.body
-July 1, 1863
-Stopped the invasion of North by confederate army
-Turning point in war
-Union
-https://gettysburg.stonesentinels.com/battle-of-gettysburg-facts/#:~:text=The%20Battle%20of%20Gettysburg%20stopped,lasted%20for%20a%20few%20weeks.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Battle of Gettysburg Facts and FAQ from the American Civil War

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Facts and FAQ from the Civil War Battle of Gettysburg - Who fought in the battle? Who was in command? Who won? How many casualties were there?

# data[].attributes.body
-November 19, 1863
-Address written by Lincoln to define meaning of Civil War
-Gave Union purpose to finish war (to end slavery and rejoin country)
-Union
-https://www.history.com/topics/american-civil-war/gettysburg-address

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Gettysburg Address - Definition, Meaning & Purpose | HISTORY

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
President Abraham Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address in November 1863, at the official dedication ceremony for…

# data[].attributes.body
-April 12, 1864
-The slaughtering of African American troops at Fort Pillow
-Became rallying point for enslaved people to fight for freedom
https://www.britannica.com/event/Fort-Pillow-Massacre

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
What is the significance of the Fort Pillow Massacre?

What started the Fort Pillow Massacre?

Where did the Fort Pillow Massacre take place?

How many people died in the Fort Pillow Massacre?

What was the result of the Fort Pillow Massacre?

Fort Pillow Massacre, Confederate slaughter of African American Federal troops stationed at Fort Pillow, Tennessee, on April 12, 1864, during the American Civil War. The action stemmed from Southern outrage at the North's use of Black soldiers. From the beginning of hostilities, the Confederate leadership was faced with the question of whether to treat Black soldiers captured in battle as slaves in insurrection or, as the Union insisted, as prisoners of war.

Background

The Battle of Fort Pillow occurred as part of Confederate Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest's spring 1864 raid into West Tennessee and Kentucky, areas held by Union troops. By the third year of the war, the Confederacy was facing severe manpower shortages and a dearth of supplies-including the horses necessary to maintain active cavalry campaigning. Consequently, Forrest launched the expedition in an attempt to gain recruits, provisions, and mounts for his command. Furthermore, Union Gen. William T. Sherman was massing forces in Chattanooga, Tennessee, in anticipation of his drive on Atlanta. Forrest and his superiors hoped that his raid would disrupt Sherman's preparations. By this stage in the conflict, Forrest had already earned a reputation as a fierce, temperamental, and violent commander who drove his men relentlessly and often issued "surrender or die" ultimatums to his Union adversaries.

American Civil War Events

Fort Pillow is located at a bend in the Mississippi River roughly 40 miles (65 km) north of Memphis, Tennessee. Built in 1861, the fort was originally a Confederate installation named after Brig. Gen. Gideon J. Pillow. In 1862 the combined might of the Union army and navy seized control of most of the Mississippi River and West Tennessee, rendering untenable the Confederate position at Fort Pillow, which was abandoned. Union forces moved into the vacant fort, using it as a supply depot and recruitment centre. In a tragically ironic prologue to the Fort Pillow story, Sherman, the commander of the District of Tennessee, ordered that the fort be abandoned in January 1864-about four months prior to the massacre. Union Maj. Gen. Stephen A. Hurlbut, in command in West Tennessee, initially obeyed and then disregarded his superior's directive, evacuating the fort in January but then ordering it to be reoccupied in February.

Initial attack

The fort contained a garrison of between 500 and 600 troops (consisting primarily of unionist Southerners, Confederate deserters, and African Americans) when Forrest's troops arrived. The 1,500 to 2,500 Confederate cavalrymen surrounded the fort with relative ease on the morning of April 12. For its defenders, the lay of the land around the fort combined with the poorly constructed entrenchments and fieldworks made the defense of Fort Pillow difficult. While the fort consisted of some 2 miles (3.2 km) of defenses, the Union troops had taken up position in an inner redoubt within the larger fortification. Confederate sharpshooters kept up constant fire throughout the day, wreaking havoc within the garrison. Union Maj. Lionel Booth, the fort's commander, was killed by a sniper's bullet. His second in command, Maj. William Bradford-who would prove to be an inept leader-assumed control. Even the Union gunboat New Era, tasked with aiding the defense of the fort from the river, proved ineffectual against the combined challenges presented by the topography and Forrest's artillerymen. At 3:30 pm, after hours of rifle and artillery fire, Forrest demanded the fort's surrender.

Overestimating the support he would receive from Union ships and wishing to confer with his officers, Bradford requested a one-hour cease-fire. Soon, however, Forrest spied Union boats-possibly carrying reinforcements-approaching Fort Pillow. Preparing for this eventuality, the Confederate commander ordered a detachment of his men to the northeast end of the fort to block the possible landing of Union troops. Convinced that Bradford was deceptively using the cease-fire to strengthen his garrison, Forrest informed him the fort would be stormed in 20 minutes. Further heightening an already tense situation, the troops in and around the fort began exchanging insults during the cease-fire.

Final attack and massacre

After Bradford's allotted 20 minutes had passed, Forrest-from a position roughly 400 yards (360 metres) from the front-ordered his men to assault the fort. The dismounted cavalrymen easily surmounted the ditches and parapets separating them from the Union defenders. The ill-led, outmanned, and outgunned Federals were unable to mount an effective defense from the fort's walls out of fear of the Confederate snipers and could do little to stop the attacking horde.

Forrest's men quickly gained the upper hand. The situation within the fort's walls degenerated into chaos, and command and control on both sides vanished. Some Union soldiers doggedly continued to resist; others threw down their arms in an attempt to surrender; and others-including Major Bradford-fled toward the Mississippi River.

The actual final assault on the fort's walls and the subsequent fighting lasted less than half an hour. By that time Forrest and his staff had arrived in the fort to restore some semblance of order. Both Confederate and Union witnesses claimed that an unknown number of Federal soldiers-most of whom were African American-were gunned down after attempting to surrender. Many more were shot as they fled, while others drowned in the Mississippi River. While it is impossible to determine how many were killed in the battle as opposed to the massacre, between 277 and 295 Union troops-the majority of whom were African American-were killed in total. Only 14 Confederates were killed.

Congressional investigation

Allegations of a massacre were made immediately following the battle. A congressional committee was tasked with ascertaining what in fact had occurred during the melee. The committee, under the leadership of two Republicans-Sen. Benjamin F. Wade, a leading Radical Republican, and Rep. Daniel W. Gooch-deemed what occurred at Fort Pillow a massacre without parallel. Although the committee interviewed numerous witnesses and compiled a detailed case that included much valuable testimony, the biases of Wade and Gooch led to a propagandist slant. Like most Radical Republicans, Wade and Gooch advocated for tougher wartime policies toward the South. Further sensationalizing what was already a brutal episode would bring validity to their desired policies. Despite the propagandistic nature of the report, it permeated Northern public opinion.

Likewise, the South soon had its own equally enduring version of the battle. Most white southerners denied the occurrence of a massacre. Not only did Forrest vehemently deny that his men did anything wrong, but he and his supporters argued that those killed at Fort Pillow were the victims not of violent racism but of the chaos of battle, the ineptitude of their leaders, and their refusal to surrender.

Despite the initial arguments of Confederates-and the continued insistence of Forrest's apologists-proclaiming that no massacre had occurred, evidence to the contrary is simply too overwhelming. While not as overblown as the arguments put forward by Wade and Gooch, the interpretations of the vast majority of modern historians convincingly show that a massacre took place. Twice as many Union soldiers were killed during the battle than were wounded-an inverse ratio for Civil War battles. Moreover, only 20 percent of the Black soldiers present were taken prisoner, while roughly 60 percent of the white troops present were captured.

Legacy

Although in terms of size and strategic importance Fort Pillow pales in comparison with other often-studied Civil War engagements, it did have some significant consequences. Like the Alamo a generation earlier, the Fort Pillow Massacre became a rallying cry for a people fighting for their independence. It served to harden the resolve of African American soldiers, and "Remember Fort Pillow!" became their battle cry.
Robert L. Glaze

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Fort Pillow Massacre | Definition, Significance, & Facts

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Fort Pillow Massacre, Confederate slaughter of African American Federal troops stationed at Fort Pillow, Tennessee, on April 12, 1864, during the American Civil War. The action stemmed from Southern outrage at the North's use of Black soldiers. Learn more about the massacre, including its legacy.

# data[].attributes.body
-November 15, 1864 - December 21, 1864
-American Civil War campaign that lead Union troops through Georgia destroying military outposts
-Increase of Union nationality
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Shermans-March-to-the-Sea

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Sherman's March to the Sea, (November 15-December 21, 1864) American Civil War campaign that concluded Union operations in the Confederate state of Georgia. After seizing Atlanta, Union Maj. Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman embarked on a scorched-earth campaign intended to cripple the South's war-making capacity and wound the Confederate psyche. Sherman's army marched 285 miles (458 km) east from Atlanta to the coastal town of Savannah, which surrendered without a siege. Sherman's 37-day campaign is remembered as one of the most successful examples of " total war," and its psychological effects persisted in the postbellum South.

Context and strategy

In the spring of 1864, Union Lieut. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant conferred with his generals in order to devise a strategy to bring the Confederate war machine to its knees. Sherman was charged with three armies totaling some 100,000 men: the Army of the Cumberland, the Army of the Tennessee, and the Army of the Ohio. His primary objective was to capture and neutralize the city of Atlanta, which was a major railroad centre, supply depot, and manufacturing hub for both Georgia and the Confederacy. The ensuing campaign and siege occupied most of the summer, with Sherman finally forcing a surrender on September 2.

Sherman remained in Atlanta for a little over a month. During this time he ordered the evacuation of some 3,000 civilians and seized their homes for his soldiers' living quarters. Confederate forces were not stationary, however. On September 21, 1864, Confederate Gen. John B. Hood moved his battered Army of Tennessee northwest from their southerly position to Palmetto, Georgia. On September 29 Hood set out again, this time with the goal of cutting off Sherman's supply lines along the Western & Atlantic Railroad in northern Georgia. Sherman moved against Hood on October 5. Union men successfully defended the supply depot northwest of Atlanta at Allatoona Pass, but Hood seized Dalton with little resistance. Sherman pursued the smaller Confederate army west and south until mid-October, when Hood crossed into Alabama. Hood's new strategy was to recoup before striking north at Union-occupied Nashville, Tennessee.

Having anticipated Confederate designs against Nashville, Sherman had already sent two divisions to the Tennessee capital. He now dispatched the IV and XXIII Corps to Chattanooga, located along the railroad to Nashville. Sherman then turned his attention back to the pacification of Georgia. On October 9, while still chasing Hood, he had sent the following in a telegram to Grant:

I propose we break up the railroad from Chattanooga, and strike out with wagons for Milledgeville, Millen, and Savannah. Until we can repopulate Georgia it is useless to occupy it, but the utter destruction of its roads, houses, and people will cripple their military resources. By attempting to hold the roads we will lose a thousand men monthly and will gain no result. I can make the march and make Georgia howl. We have over 8,000 cattle and 3,000,000 pounds of bread but no corn, but we can forage in the interior of the state.

Though he had his reservations about the plan, Grant gave his official approval on November 7. Through this "March to the Sea," Sherman hoped to deny Georgia's resources to the Confederacy. In a November 6 telegram to Grant, he had argued that to every onlooker, the destruction of Georgia's economic and industrial potential would be "proof positive that the North can prevail in this contest, leaving only open the question of its willingness to use that power." Far more than a mere display of brute force, Sherman's wager would prove to be equal parts political and psychological.

On November 10, following Sherman's orders, Union troops began torching buildings that were of military or industrial value in Atlanta. By the following day, soldiers were setting unauthorized fires, and the flames spread to business and residential districts. Within a week, some 40 percent of the city was in ashes. On the morning of November 16, Sherman set out for the coast at the head of roughly 62,000 men. Atlanta smoldered in his rear.

The march

Although clearly headed eastward, Sherman was determined to conceal his movements from Confederate eyes. For this reason, he divided his expeditionary force into two infantry groups. The Army of the Tennessee, headed by Maj. Gen. Oliver O. Howard, comprised the right wing. On the left, Maj. Gen. Henry W. Slocum commanded the Army of Georgia. Brig. Gen. Judson Kilpatrick led the force's single cavalry division. With Kilpatrick as a mobile screen, Howard took the right wing southeast of Atlanta in the direction of Macon, while Slocum's left wing marched east toward Augusta.

Sherman gave explicit instructions to his troops regarding their conduct while on the march. In Special Field Order No. 120 he encouraged foraging and the confiscation of livestock but forbade home invasions. However, if antagonized by Confederate soldiers, Union officers could destroy private and industrial property. The field order also permitted able-bodied Black labourers to join the march, but commanding officers were instructed to remain cognizant of supplies intended for their army group.

Most Union soldiers complied with Sherman's orders. However, some men, called "bummers," roamed the countryside to intentionally terrorize and loot Confederate civilians. Although bummers engaged in prohibited activity, the overall psychological impact on the local population was precisely the purpose of the march. This effect was likely compounded by the army's continued railroad destruction. Railroads doubled as a conduit for industrial growth and transportation for the military. By ripping up and melting down tracks, Union soldiers slowly crippled the state's industrial and military potential in full view of its civilians.

Confederate leadership was unable to discern the final destination of the two-pronged Union force. Observing the movements of Howard's right wing, Confederate Lieut. Gen. William J. Hardee initially assumed that its goal was to capture Macon. However, a turn eastward convinced him that Augusta was the target. Accordingly, on November 19, he dispatched Maj. Gen. Joseph Wheeler 's cavalry corps and some local militiamen to slow the Union's right flank. Sherman's true objective, hidden from even his own rank and file, was to seize the state capital of Milledgeville.

Just before pivoting east past Macon, Howard's right wing came upon the industrial town of Griswoldville. Union troops burned it to the ground. On November 22 three Confederate militia brigades (comprising some 4,500 men) from Macon discovered the carnage before chancing upon 1,500 Union soldiers. The Union defensive position was strong and Howard's men were equipped with repeating rifles. Despite an overwhelming numerical advantage, the Confederate militiamen were thoroughly squashed, suffering more than 1,000 casualties to fewer than 100 for the Union. To the north of this action, Sherman advanced with the left wing into Milledgeville on November 23. His force faced little resistance. With the Georgia state legislature having quit the capital, Union troops held a mock legislative session and voted to repeal Georgia's ordinance of secession.

On November 24 several Union prisoners of war caught up with the left wing, having escaped a Confederate camp at Andersonville. Many troops who heard of their arrival retaliated by burning civilian barns and slaughtering their livestock. Some bummers escalated their attacks on the local population. Wheeler's Confederate cavalry responded by killing Union prisoners. The violence abated only after Sherman threatened to shoot an equal number of his own captives. However, news of brutal prisoner treatment at Camp Lawton would later prompt Sherman to order the destruction of several miles of track along the Augusta & Savannah Railroad.

Slocum's left wing encountered some trouble once they broke camp to continue their eastward march. Wheeler's horsemen descended on the Federal column at Sandersonville on November 25-26, and on November 28 they sprang an attack on Kilpatrick's Union cavalry at Buckhead Creek. The Confederacy suffered only 70 losses to the Union's 100, with Kilpatrick himself narrowly escaping capture. The two cavalry units clashed again at nearby Waynesboro on December 4. The intense battle that ensued saw 250 Confederate casualties and 190 Union losses.

Despite these impediments, the two wings of Sherman's army began to converge on Savannah in early December. On December 9, however, tragedy struck Brig. Gen. Jefferson C. Davis's XIV Corps. Davis's men lagged behind the rest of the left wing, and Wheeler's cavalry was hot on their heels. Field Order No. 120 had permitted Black labourers to accompany the column, despite being a potential drain on resources and slowing the army's pace. Just 25 miles (40 km) north of Savannah, Davis's men were crossing a bloated Ebenezer Creek when they were ordered to destroy their bridge. This would prevent the formerly enslaved people from crossing to safety. With Wheeler close behind, many of them attempted to swim the distance. Dozens drowned, and Wheeler captured many of those who lived. Their fates remain largely unknown. Sherman would later defend Davis's actions at Ebenezer Creek as a necessary reality of war.

By December 12 Sherman's force had neared Savannah's outer defenses. Hardee had long since retreated to the coastal city and toiled away at its fortifications, which were effective at supplementing Savannah's natural marsh and river defenses. Determined not to lay a siege unless absolutely necessary, Sherman ordered 4,000 men from the XV Corps to seize Fort McCallister, a crucial element of the city's southern defense. Union troops arrived outside the fort on December 13. It boasted a garrison of 230 Confederates and more than 20 pieces of artillery. Federal troops sprinted the 600-yard stretch to the fort's walls, and within 15 minutes they had captured the structure. The Union lost 130 men in this assault and the Confederacy 40.

Savannah was now surrounded on land. Sherman demanded a surrender on December 17, but his request was promptly rejected. Nevertheless, Hardee knew that his position was untenable. On the night of December 20-21 his Confederate garrison prepared to evacuate. They quietly abandoned their trenches and crossed the Savannah River into Confederate-held South Carolina. On December 21 Savannah's mayor formally surrendered the city to the Union. For Sherman's part, he made immediate contact with the U.S. Navy before sending the following telegram to Pres. Abraham Lincoln:

"I beg to present you as a Christmas gift the city of Savannah, with one hundred and fifty heavy guns and plenty of ammunition, also about twenty-five thousand bales of cotton."

Casualties and aftermath

Sherman's March to the Sea spanned some 285 miles (459 km) over 37 days. His armies sustained more than 1,300 casualties, with the Confederacy suffering roughly 2,300. Between 17,000 and 25,000 enslaved Black people were freed while on the march, including more than 7,500 in and around Savannah.

The economic impact of the march was staggering. Sherman estimated a total Confederate economic loss of $100 million (more than $1.5 billion in the 21st century) in his official campaign report. In 1870, five years after the war's end, the South's overall agricultural output was 28 percent of the nation's total output, some 10 percent below prewar levels. Some economists have measured residual agricultural effects lasting through 1920.

Together with Sherman's Atlanta Campaign, the March to the Sea may have tipped the scales of victory toward the Union. The pacification of Georgia cut the Confederacy in half and denied the insurgent states much of their former industrial and agricultural capacity. This had significant ramifications across their remaining military operations. Desertions soared as news of Georgia's devastation began to reach the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, which was engaged in some of the war's most intense combat. In South Carolina Sherman waged a new scorched-earth campaign with a vengeance reserved for the first state to have seceded from the Union. Less than six months later Gen. Robert E. Lee would surrender to the Union at Appomattox Court House and bring a formal end to the American Civil War.

Apart from its economic and military payoff, the march's impact may have lingered longest in the Southern psyche. The destruction of Georgia displayed the unfettered might of the Union war machine. Confederate morale reached new lows as Sherman burned his way east. Civilian accounts describe the terror of encountering Sherman's foraging parties and the unauthorized bands of bummers. Locals experienced a sense of growing dread as they anticipated the main columns advancing through their property and seizing everything of value. In the hearts of Georgians, Sherman left behind a smoldering resentment of the North that persisted well into the 20th century.

In addition to its effects on Georgia and the South, Sherman's March to the Sea revolutionized the military tactics of his time. Many scholars of military history contend that his psychological warfare was one of the first modern examples of total war. His focus on crushing civilian morale presaged the bloody World Wars of the 20th century. Like the morale-focused campaigns of future generals, Sherman's march squeezed out a victory with ruthless precision.

Myles Hudson

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Sherman's March to the Sea | Significance, Map, Casualties, & The Civil War

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Sherman's March to the Sea (November 15-December 21, 1864), American Civil War campaign that concluded Union operations in Georgia and crippled the South's war-making capacity. After seizing Atlanta, Union Major General William Tecumseh Sherman embarked on a scorched-earth campaign to the coastal town of Savannah.

# data[].attributes.body
-November 8, 1864
-Lincoln re-elected after defeating McMlellan
-Victory in battle lead to presidency
-Union
https://www.britannica.com/event/United-States-presidential-election-of-1864

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
United States presidential election of 1864, American presidential election held on Nov. 8, 1864, in which Republican Pres. Abraham Lincoln defeated Democrat George B. McClellan . As the election occurred during the American Civil War , it was contested only by the states that had not seceded from the Union.

Wartime discord

As the 1864 election approached, the prospect that Pres. Abraham Lincoln would gain a second term was very much in doubt. The war between the North and the South had persisted longer than many had anticipated, and the Union army's efforts in early 1864 provided little hope for an expeditious conclusion. Many Northern Democrats who supported the war as a means of preserving the Union had been dismayed by the Emancipation Proclamation (1863), the promulgation of which suggested to them that slaves' rights had also become a principal objective of the conflict. At the same time, a faction within Lincoln's own party-the antislavery Radical Republicans-contended that the actual emancipation of slaves was not being accomplished quickly enough and that the president's proposals for readmitting Confederate states to the Union were too lenient. Both sides, furthermore, were critical of Lincoln's wartime restraints on civil liberties.

Several names were discussed as potential Republican challengers to Lincoln. In early 1864 Secretary of State Salmon P. Chase began a surreptitious campaign for the nomination but hastily ended it after pamphlets intended for private distribution were leaked to the press. A more formidable challenge came from former Republican presidential nominee John C. Frémont , who in May won the nomination of the Radical Democracy Party, formed by a group of disaffected Republicans. The official convention for Republicans was held in Baltimore several weeks later. Despite misgivings among some Republican party leaders, Lincoln won renomination on the first ballot. More committed to their broad strategic policies than to strict partisanship, the Republicans attempted to siphon the support of pro-war Democrats by temporarily renaming themselves the National Union Party and by replacing Vice Pres. Hannibal Hamlin on the ticket with Andrew Johnson , a former Democratic senator from Tennessee.

Although the Democratic Party was generally unified in its opposition to emancipation, in 1864 it found itself divided between those who favoured the continuation of the war and those who sought peace through a negotiated settlement with the South. The former faction found a candidate in Gen. George B. McClellan, who had led the Union army in 1861-62 but was personally contemptuous of Lincoln. The latter faction, centred mainly in the Midwest and popularly known as the Copperheads , gravitated toward New York Gov. Horatio Seymour. At the Democratic convention in August, a compromise was struck whereby McClellan was nominated as the party's presidential candidate and the Copperheads were allowed authority over the party platform; accordingly, they inserted a plank calling for immediate peace negotiations. In addition, the Democratic vice presidential nominee, Ohio Rep. George Pendleton , was an advocate for peace.

Momentum for Lincoln

As late as August 23, Lincoln considered it "exceedingly probable" that he would not be reelected. However, Union Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman's capture of Atlanta in early September significantly boosted Northern morale. In the wake of the victory, Frémont withdrew his candidacy, and newspapers and churches both provided enthusiastic endorsements of Lincoln. Though Lincoln did not shift his policies, he appeased the Radical Republicans somewhat by replacing a member of his cabinet whose conservative views on racial issues had come under criticism. Meanwhile, McClellan's campaign flailed as his repudiation of the peace plank in the Democratic platform provoked further tensions within his party.

On election day, Lincoln prevailed handily, winning 212 of 233 total electoral votes. Contributing to his victory were the predominantly Republican votes of Union soldiers, many of whom had been allowed to cast ballots in the field or else had been furloughed to vote in their home districts. McClellan won only the states of Delaware, New Jersey, and Kentucky. The strategic selection of Johnson as a vice presidential candidate proved unexpectedly consequential when Lincoln's assassination less than two months into his second term elevated Johnson to the presidency.

For the results of the previous election, see United States presidential election of 1860. For the results of the subsequent election, see United States presidential election of 1868.
John M. Cunningham

Results of the 1864 election

The results of the 1864 U.S. presidential election are provided in the table.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
united states presidential election of 1864

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
United States presidential election of 1864 | Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Johnson & Reelection

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
United States presidential election of 1864, American presidential election held on Nov. 8, 1864, in which Republican Pres. Abraham Lincoln defeated Democrat George B. McClellan . As the election occurred during the American Civil War , it was contested only by the states that had not seceded from

# data[].attributes.body
-April 9, 1865
-Marked the beginning of the country's transition to peace after Civil War
-General Lee surrenders to Grant; Union victory
-Union
https://www.nps.gov/articles/300089.htm#4/34.45/-98.53