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As the Confederate capital, Richmond experienced waves of change that saw the city lurch from the untidy influx of thousands of military personnel and government officials in 1861 to the fiery evacuation of the city by Confederate forces in 1865. Once Virginia seceded, the Confederate government moved the capital to Richmond, the South's second-largest city. The move served to solidify the state of Virginia's new Confederate identity and to sanctify the rebellion by associating it with the American Revolution.

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The major locations along the Mississippi River that greatly affected the Civil War are New Orleans, Island Number 10, the Memphis river-port, the Vicksburg river-port, and Port Hudson in Louisiana. The Mississippi River was the most important transport link in the United States and essential to winning the Civil War.

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Soldiers from Kentucky served in both the Union and Confederate armies. The state adopted a policy of neutrality until September 1861, when a pro-Union element gained control of the legislature. Though Kentucky never seceded from the Union, there was a sizable pro-Confederate element in the state.

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Tennessee was the last state to secede from the Union and fight for the Confederacy. Most of West Tennessee was staunchly Confederate, while most of East Tennessee was Unionist. Middle Tennessee leaned more to the Confederate side, so Tennessee seceded from the Union on June 8, 1861.

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Access to the Bay meant the ability to receive shipped goods, quickly transport troops from one point to another and threaten the enemy with strikes deep into their territory.

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James ranks near the Mississippi River in its significance during the American Civil War (1861–1865) and in importance to the Confederacy. Using the James River and Kanawha Canal system, boats moved materials such as pig iron and coal from Virginia's Shenandoah Valley and Piedmont regions to the capital.

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Beginning in March 1862 when Gen. Joe Johnston's Confederate army drew the first “line in the bank” on the Rappahannock, this little river—always defended from the Culpeper side—was intermittently marched and fought over until the Federals finally secured Culpeper in November 1863.

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During the American Civil War (1861–1865), the Potomac traced the border between the Union and the Confederacy and lent its name to the most important Union army, the Army of the Potomac. Throughout the war, the river functioned largely as it always had—as an avenue for transport.

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The Battle of Buffington Island is the only battle that was fought in Ohio in the Civil War. The battle was a decisive engagement between Union General Edward Hobson's 3,000 soldiers and Confederate General John H. Morgan's 1,800 soldiers.

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Battle of Gettysburg First Shot Marker, Chambersburg Road, Gettysburg, PA

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Battle of Gettysburg First Shot Marker, Chambersburg Road, Gettysburg, PA

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Battle of Gettysburg First Shot Marker, Chambersburg Road, Gettysburg, PA

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The charge was repulsed by Union rifle and artillery fire, at great loss to the Confederate army. Lee led his army on a torturous retreat back to Virginia. Between 46,000 and 51,000 soldiers from both armies were casualties in the three-day battle, the most costly in US history.

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Fort Sumter National Monument, South Carolina

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Fort Sumter National Monument, South Carolina

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Fort Sumter National Monument, South Carolina

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As Charleston blazed a path towards secession to preserve slavery, construction on a new fort, Fort Sumter, proceeded. The Confederacy fired on the US garrison of Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861 opening the Civil War, which redefined American freedom.

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As Charleston blazed a path towards secession to preserve slavery, construction on a new fort, Fort Sumter, proceeded. The Confederacy fired on the US garrison of Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861 opening the Civil War, which redefined American freedom.

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At Second Manassas, Gen. Robert E. Lee's Confederate army defeated Union forces under Maj. Gen. John Pope, hastening the Federals' retreat back toward their defenses in Washington and allowing Lee to lead his army across the Potomac River into the North.

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On learning of Vicksburg's surrender, President Lincoln wrote, “The Father of Waters again goes unvexed to the sea.” The Union victory at Vicksburg weakened the Confederacy by splitting it in half and isolating the Southern states of Louisiana, Texas and Arkansas.

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The Battle of Fredericksburg was a crushing defeat for the Union, whose soldiers fought courageously and well but fell victim to mismanagement by their generals, including confused orders from Burnside to Franklin.

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General Robert E. Lee's audacious decision to take on Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker's Army of the Potomac, though he had less than half the number of men, resulted in an improbable win for the South. Hooker's timidity in battle led to poor choices and a huge disappointment for the North.

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The Battle of Antietam ended the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia's first invasion into the North and led Abraham Lincoln to issue the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation. Check out this section for answers to all your questions if you are planning a visit to Antietam National Battlefield.

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The Battle of Shiloh fought was the bloodiest battle fought during the American Civil War up to that point in the conflict. Fought on April 6-7, 1862, the two days of carnage led to around 23,000 casualties, making it the deadliest battle of the Civil War up to that point.

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Although Maryland had always leaned toward the south culturally, sympathies in the state were as much pro-Union as they were pro-Confederate. Reflecting that division and the feeling of many Marylanders that they just wanted to be left alone, the state government would not declare for either side.

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During the course of the four-year war, over five hundred skirmishes occurred in Louisiana; twenty of them are considered major battles. The main targets for the Union were the Mississippi River and the port of New Orleans.

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Chickamauga And Chattanooga National Military Park, Lafayette Road, Fort Oglethorpe, GA

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Chickamauga And Chattanooga National Military Park, Lafayette Road, Fort Oglethorpe, GA

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Chickamauga And Chattanooga National Military Park, Lafayette Road, Fort Oglethorpe, GA

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The battle of Chickamauga (September 19-20, 1863) developed from the struggle to control the strategic railroad town of Chattanooga, the gateway to the Deep South, the seizure of which President Abraham Lincoln viewed as comparable to the capture of Richmond.

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Because Savannah had little military value, the city was largely spared the burning and destruction that Sherman's army inflicted upon Atlanta in mid-November, but while Savannah survived intact at the end of the war, Atlanta, not Savannah, would emerge as an economic powerhouse in the postwar period.

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Appomattox Court House National Historical Park, National Park Drive, Appomattox, VA

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Appomattox Court House National Historical Park, National Park Drive, Appomattox, VA

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Appomattox Court House National Historical Park, National Park Drive, Appomattox, VA

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Appomattox County, VA | Apr 9, 1865. 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.

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During the American Civil War (1861–1865), Washington, D.C., the capital city of the United States, was the center of the Union war effort, which rapidly turned it from a small city into a major capital with full civic infrastructure and strong defenses.

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The secession of South Carolina was followed by the secession of six more states—Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas–and the threat of secession by four more—Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina. These eleven states eventually formed the Confederate States of America.

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In the context of the American Civil War (1861–65), the border states were slave states that did not secede from the Union. They were Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri, and after 1863, the new state of West Virginia.

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The Union included the states of Maine, New York, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Kansas, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, California, Nevada, and Oregon. Abraham Lincoln was their President.

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4 confederate states that joined after the attack on fort sumter

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4 confederate states that joined after the attack on fort sumter

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Four additional slave-holding states—Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina—declared their secession and joined the Confederacy following a call by U.S. President Abraham Lincoln for troops from each state to recapture Sumter and other seized federal properties in the South.