The Civil War

The North and the South were divided

In the 1850’s the abolitionist movement started getting strong

In November 1860, Abraham Lincoln was elected president of the United States

South Carolina secedes from the Union

Fort Sumter

Battle of Fort Sumter - April 12, 1861

Southern states secede

The Battle at Bull Run

First Battle of Manassas or The Battle of Bull Run

The Merrimack – A Confederate Ironclad

The Merrimack – The Confederate Ironclad

The Monitor and the Merrimack at battle

The Monitor – Northern Ironclad

The Battle of the Monitor and the Merrimack – it was a draw March 1862

Battle of Shiloh – Confederates took Union troops by surprise on the Tennessee River. Union lost 13,000 and Confederates lost 10,000 men April 6 & 7 1862

Shiloh: The Battle That Changed the Civil War  The bloodbath at Shiloh, Tenn. (April 6-7, 1862), brought an end to any remaining innocence in the Civil War. The combined 23,000 casualties that the two armies inflicted on each other in two days shocked North and South alike. Ulysses S. Grant kept his head and managed, with reinforcements, to win a hard-fought victory.

Antietam September 17, 1862 - The bloodiest day in U. S Antietam September 17, 1862 - The bloodiest day in U.S. military history

Antietam was the bloodiest single-day battle in American history, with about 23,000 casualties. This was a two to one battle with Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia having approximately 45,00 troops to Union Army Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan’s 90,000 troops.

Abraham Lincoln sets up a blockade to keep the Southerners from getting supplies

January 1, 1863 - Emancipation Proclamation

The Battle of Chancellorsville, Virginia began on Friday, May 1, 1863 and ended on Monday, May 4, 1863. Late on May 1, 1863, Lee and Jackson conceived one of the boldest plans of the war. Jackson, with 30,000 Confederates, would follow a circuitous route to the Union right and from there conduct an attack on that exposed flank. The May 2, 1863 flank attack stunned the Union XI corps and threatened Hooker’s position, but the victorious Confederate attack ended with the mortal wounding of Stonewall Jackson. On May 3, 1863, the Confederates resumed their offensive and drove Hooker’s larger army back to a new defensive line nearer the fords. Swinging east, Lee then defeated a separate Federal force near Salem Church that had threatened his rear. Lee's victory at Chancellorsville is widely considered to be his greatest of the entire war.

Stonewall Jackson died May 10, 1863

July 1-3, 1863 - The tide of war turns against the South as the Confederates are defeated at the Battle of Gettysburg in Pennsylvania.

There were over 51,000 casualties total

Although the Battle of Gettysburg did not end the war, it was the great battle of the war, making the point when the ultimate victory of the North over the South became clear to both sides alike.

July 4, 1863 - Vicksburg, the last Confederate stronghold on the Mississippi River, surrenders to Gen. Grant and the Army of the West after a six week siege. With the Union now in control of the Mississippi, the Confederacy is effectively split in two, cut off from its western allies.

November 19, 1863 - President Lincoln delivers a two minute Gettysburg Address at a ceremony dedicating the Battlefield as a National Cemetery.

March 9, 1864 - President Lincoln appoints Gen March 9, 1864 - President Lincoln appoints Gen. Grant to command all of the armies of the United States. Gen. William T. Sherman succeeds Grant as commander in the west.

Sherman’s March to the Sea

Sherman's scorched earth policies have always been highly controversial, and Sherman's memory has long been reviled by many Southerners. 

Burning of Atlanta

April 2, 1865 - Grant's forces begin a general advance and break through Lee's lines at Petersburg. Confederate Gen. Ambrose P. Hill is killed. Lee evacuates Petersburg. The Confederate Capital, Richmond, is evacuated. Fires and looting break out. The next day, Union troops enter and raise the Stars and Stripes.

Lee Surrenders

Appomattox Courthouse

April 9, 1865 - Gen. Robert E. Lee surrenders his Confederate Army to Gen. Ulysses S. Grant at the village of Appomattox Court House in Virginia. Grant allows Rebel officers to keep their sidearms and permits soldiers to keep horses and mules.

April 14, 1865 - The Stars and Stripes is ceremoniously raised over Fort Sumter. That night, Lincoln and his wife Mary see the play "Our American Cousin" at Ford's Theater. At 10:13 p.m., during the third act of the play, John Wilkes Booth shoots the president in the head. Doctors attend to the president in the theater then move him to a house across the street. He never regains consciousness.

John Wilkes Booth shot Abraham Lincoln

American deaths at each of the battles

Number of Americans to die in all of our wars