Civil War battles

2nd Bull Run (2nd Manassas) August 28-30, 1862 The Confederates were able to destroy Union supply lines in northern Virginia Union forces advanced thinking the Confederates had retreated but soon found out they were wrong.

The Confederates were able to crush the Union left flank and forced them to retreat. This allowed Lee to move his army into Maryland which is the first time they entered northern territory.

Battle of Antietam September 17, 1862 This was the first battle fought on northern soil. Union general McClellan confronted Lee’s troops in Maryland. He engaged less than ¾ of his troops which far outnumbered the confederates.

They fought to a stalemate They fought to a stalemate. Eventually at night, Lee decided to take his battered army back across the Potomac River to Virginia. This was the bloodiest single day battle of the war. Lee’s retreat gave Lincoln the “victory” he needed to issue the Emancipation Proclamation.

Fredricksburg December 13, 1862 After McClellan failed to persue Lee into Virginia, Lincoln replaced him with General Ambrose Burnside. Burnside was trying to move into Fredricksburg after Lee’s army. He delayed things numerous times. By the time he engaged, the Confderates had dug in on the high ground.

When he eventually sent his troops in, they had to cross bridges in a column which made them easy targets. They also had to try and advance uphill. They tried 16 times.

Union suffered 1,284 killed, 9,600 wounded, and 1,769 captured/missing Union suffered 1,284 killed, 9,600 wounded, and 1,769 captured/missing. For the Confederates, casualties were 608 killed, 4,116 wounded, and 653 captured/missing. They laid outside on the field all night in the cold. It was an epic failure for Burnside! The next day, he had to ask for a truce to remove his wounded men from the field and then retreated.

Shiloh April 6-7, 1862 Battle of Shiloh was a 2 day battle in western Tennessee Union general Ulysses S. Grant fought hard and refused to back down. Despite heavy casaulties, both sides continued to fight. Hornet’s nest – nicknamed by the soldiers because of the buzzing sound of all the bullets in the air and the sting of them when they got hit.

This allowed the union to keep control of the Mississippi River in this area and showed them Grant was tough. This battle had the highest casualties percentage. In fact, Grant was so tough that he got the reputation of not caring about the lives of his men as much as winning. This battle also gave Lincoln at least 1 strong leader in his army who would eventually move up to take command of the entire Union army.