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 Battle of Spotsylvania Courthouse (May 8-21, 1864)

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 Battle of Spotsylvania Courthouse (May 8-21, 1864)

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In May 1864, Confederate forces clashed with the advancing Union Army in the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House, which lasted for the better part of two weeks and included some of the bloodiest fighting of the Civil War. After an indecisive battle in the dense Virginia woods known as the Wilderness ended on May 7, Union General Ulysses S. Grant and the Army of the Potomac marched southward, meeting Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia once again at the crossroads town of Spotsylvania Court House the next day. Over the 12 days that followed, Union troops briefly broke the Confederate line, but the rebels managed to close the gap and hold their ground. The battle, which cost 18,000 Union and 11,000 Confederate casualties, included nearly 20 hours of brutal hand-to-hand combat at the infamous "Bloody Angle," a section of the Confederate salient, on May 12-13. On May 21, Grant disengaged his troops and ordered them to continue their march south toward the Confederate capital of Richmond.

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 Battle of the Wilderness (May 5-7, 1864)

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 Battle of the Wilderness (May 5-7, 1864)

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The Battle of the Wilderness marked the first stage of a major Union offensive toward the Confederate capital of Richmond, ordered by the newly named Union General-in-Chief Ulysses S. Grant in the spring of 1864. As the Army of the Potomac crossed the Rapidan River on May 4, Confederate General Robert E. Lee determined that his Army of Northern Virginia would confront the enemy in the dense Virginia woods known as the Wilderness. Familiar terrain for the rebels, the heavy woods and dense undergrowth also negated the Union's numerical advantage--115,000 to 65,000--by making it nearly impossible for a large army to make an orderly advance. Two days of bloody and often chaotic combat followed, ending in a tactical draw and heavy casualties, especially on the Union side. Grant refused to retreat, however, and instead ordered his battered troops to continued southward in what would be a long and costly--but ultimately successful--campaign.

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Battle of Chickamauga (September 19-20, 1863)

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Battle of Chickamauga (September 19-20, 1863)

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The battle of Chickamauga in North Georgia not far from Chattanooga, Tennessee, was the largest battle fought in the Western Theater of the American Civil War. The battle of Chickamauga took place on September 19-20, 1863, and was the second most deadly battle of the Civil War. The Confederate leader was named Braxton Bragg, and the Union leaders were George Thomas and William Rosecrans. The battle of Chickamauga was one of the few battles in the Civil War that the Confederates outnumbered the Union. It was the worst defeat of the Union in the Western Theatre and slowed the Union's advance to Atlanta.

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The battle of Gettyburg, fought from July 1 to July 3, 1863, is considered the most important engagement of the American Civil War. After a great victory over Union forces at Chancellorvile, General Robert E. Lee marched his Army of Northern Virginia into Pensylvania in late June 1863. On July 1, the advancing Confederates clashed with the Union's Army of the Potomac, commanded by Gneral George G. Mead, at the crossroads town of Gettysburg. The next day saw even heavier fighting, as the Confederates attacked the Federals on both left and right. On July 3, Lee ordered an attack by fewer than 15,000 troops on the enemy's center at Cemetery Ridge. The assault, known as "Pickett's Charge," managed to pierce the Union lines but eventually failed, at the cost of thousands of rebel casualties, and Lee was forced to withdraw his battered army toward Virginia on July 4.

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Siege of Vicksburg (May 18 - July 4, 1863)

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Siege of Vicksburg (May 18 - July 4, 1863)

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The Siege of Vicksburg, which occurred between May 18 to July 4, 1863, was the last major military action in Vicksburg Campaign of the American Civil War. In a sequence of maneuvers, General Ulysses Grant and his Union Army crossed the Mississippi River and forced the Confederate army led by General John C. Pemberton into the defensive lines bordering the fortress city of Vicksburg. It should be noted that, before the Civil War, the Mississippi River was the most important commercial artery in the U.S., and the main route for cotton trade. However, the Civil War blocked the Mississippi to northern trade. The Union therefore was determined to open the river and restore the trade. By late 1862, a stretch running between Vicksburg, Mississippi and Port Hudson, was the only one that was blocked to North Ships. All in all, Vicksburg was the most powerful barrier on the river.

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Battle of Chancellorsvile (April 30 - May 6, 1863)

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Battle of Chancellorsvile (April 30 - May 6, 1863)

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The Battle of Chancellorsville, fought from April 30 to May 6, 1863, is widely considered to be Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's greatest victory during the American Civil War. Facing an enemy force nearly twice the size of his own, Lee daringly split his troops in two, confronting and surprising Union Gen. Joseph Hooker. Though Hooker still held numerical superiority, he did not press this advantage, instead falling back to defensive positions. When Lee once again split his forces and attacked, Hooker was forced to retreat across the Rappahannock River. Lee's victory came at a high cost, however. Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, one of his most trusted generals, was mortally wounded by friendly fire during the battle.

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Battle of Fredericksburg (December 13, 1862)

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Battle of Fredericksburg (December 13, 1862)

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The battle of Fredericksburg on December 13, 1862, involved nearly 200,000 combatants, the largest concentration of troops in any Civil War battle. Ambrose Burnside, the newly appointed commander of the Army of the Potamac, had orders his more than 120,000 troops to cross the Rappahannock River, where they made a two-pronged attack on the right and left flanks of Robert E. Lee's 80,000-strong Army of Northern Virginia at Fredericksburg. On both ends, Lee's rebel defenders turned back the Union assault with heavy casualties, particularly from their high position atop Marye's Heights. The results of the battle sent Union morale plummeting and lent much-needed new energy to the Confederate cause after the failure of Lee's first invasion of the North at Antietam the previous fall.

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On September 17, 1862, Generals Robert E. Lee and George McClellan faced off near Antietam creek in Sharpsburg, Maryland, in the the first battle of the American Civil War to be fought on northern soil. Though McClellan failed to utlilize his numerical superiority to crush Lee's army, he was able to check the Confederate advance into the north. After a string of Union defeats, this tactical victory provided Abraham Lincoln the political cover he needed to issue his Emancipation Proclamation. Though the result of the battle was inconclusive, it remains the bloodiest single day in American history, with more than 22,000 casualties.

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 Second Battle of Bull Run (August 28-30, 1862)

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 Second Battle of Bull Run (August 28-30, 1862)

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The Second Battle of Bull Run proved to be the deciding battle in the Civil War campaign waged between Union and Confederate armies in northern Virginia in 1862. As a large Union force commanded by John Pope waited for George McClellan's Army of the Potomac in anticipation of a combined offensive, Confederate General Robert E. Lee decided to strike first. Lee sent half of his Army of Northern Virginia to hit the Federal supply base at Manassas. Led by Stonewall Jackson, hero of the First Battle of Bull Run 13 months earlier, the rebels seized supplies and burned the depot, then established hidden positions in the woods. On August 29, Pope's Federals clashed with Jackson's men, who held their ground with heavy losses on both sides. The following day, after the rest of Lee's army arrived, 28,000 rebels led by James Longstreet launched a counterattack, forcing Pope to withdraw his battered army toward Washington that night.

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Capture of New Orleans (April 25 - May 1, 1862)

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Capture of New Orleans (April 25 - May 1, 1862)

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The capture of New Orleans during the American Civil War was an important event for the Union. Having fought past Forts Jackson and St. Phlip, the Union was unopposed in its capture of the city itself, which was spared the destruction suffered by many other Southern cities. However, the controversial and confrontational administration of the city by its military governor caused lasting resentment. This capture of the largest Confederate city was a major turining point and an incident of international importance.

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Also known as the Battle of Pittsburg Landing, the Battle of Shiloh took place from April 6 to April 7, 1862, and was one of the major early engagements of the American Civil War. The battle began when the Confederates launched a surprise attack on Union forces under General Ulysses S. Grant in southwestern Tennessee. After initial successes, the Confederates were unable to hold their positions and were forced back, resulting in a Union victory. Both sides suffered heavy losses, with more than 23,000 total casualties, and the level of violence shocked North and South alike.

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Battle of Fort Donelson (February 11-16, 1862)

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Battle of Fort Donelson (February 11-16, 1862)

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In February 1862, just a week after capturing Tennessee's Fort Henry, Union Brigadier General Ulysses Grant began his assault on nearby Fort Donelson on the Cumberland River, a key gateway to the Confederacy. On February 16, after Confederate forces under Brigadier General John Floyd failed to break through Grant's lines, the Confederates surrendered the fort, giving the Union one of its first major victories of the American Civil War. Grant's victory ensured that Kentucky would remain in the Union and helped open up Tennessee to future Union advances.

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The battle of Fort Henry on February 6, 1862, was the first significant Union victory of the American Civil War. In an effort to gain control of rivers and supply lines west of the Appalachians, Union Brigadier Ulysses S. Grant and Commodore Andrew Foote launched an attack on the lightly defended Fort Henry in Tennessee. After a fierce naval bombardment, Confederate Brgadier General Lloyd Tilghman secretly evacuated the bulk of his troops to nearby Fort Donelson before surrendering to Union forces. The fall of the Fort Henry, followed 10 days later by the capture of Fort Donelson, opened up both the Columbia and Tennessee rivers to Union control, cutting off Confederate access to two key waterways for the remainder of the war.

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First Battle of Bull Run (June 21, 1861)

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First Battle of Bull Run (June 21, 1861)

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On July 21, 1861, Union and Confederate armies clashed near Manassas Junction, Virginia, in the first major land battle of the American Civil War. Known as the First Battle of Bull Run, the engagement began when about 35,000 Union troops marched from the federal capital in Washington, D.C. to strike a Confederate force of 20,000 along a small river known as Bull Run. After fighting on the defensive for most of the day, the rebels rallied and were able to break the Union right flank, sending the Federals into a chaotic retreat towards Washington. The Confederate victory gave the South a surge of confidence and shocked many in the North, who realized the war would not be won as easily as they had hoped.

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Battle of Fort Sumter (April 12-14, 1861)

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Battle of Fort Sumter (April 12-14, 1861)

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The battle of Fort Sumter was the first battle of the American Civil War. U.S. Major Robert Anderson occupied the unfinished fort in December 1860 following South Carolina's secession from the Union, initiating a standoff with the state's militia forces. When President Abraham Lincoln announced plans to resupply the fort, Confederate General P.G.T Beauregard bombarded Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861. After a 34 hour exchange of artillery fire, Anderson and 86 soldiers surrendered the for on April 13. Confederate troops then occupied Fort Sumter for nearly four years, resisting several bombardments by Union forces before abandoning the garrison prior to William T. Sherman's capture of Charlestown in February 1865.