Civil War Leaders

Abraham Lincoln 16th President of the United States (Union during the Civil War); Gave the Emancipation Proclamation (stated that the war was to end slavery) and the Gettysburg Address (honored soldiers who fought during the Battle of Gettysburg)

Jefferson Davis President of the Confederate States of America

Ulysses S. Grant General of the Union army during the Civil War; 18th President of the United States of America

Robert E. Lee General of the Confederate army during the Civil War

Frederick Douglass Abolitionist that had once been a slave; traveled around the country and gave speeches to tell about the harshness of slavery

Clara Barton Nurse during the Civil War (nicknamed “Angel of the Battlefield”); founder of American Red Cross

Nathan Bedford Forrest First Leader of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK)

Sam Davis He is described as the “Boy hero of the Confederacy”—and for good reason. Sam Davis joined the Confederate army as a spy. Davis was found guilty of spying and was to be executed unless he would reveal those that he was working with. “I would rather die a thousand deaths before I betray a friend,” was Davis’s response.

Andrew Johnson He was one of the few southern senators who stayed loyal to the Union. He became president after Lincoln was assassinated.

Sam Watkins A native of Columbia, Tennessee who enlisted in the Confederate army who fought in battles such as Shiloh, Franklin, and Nashville. Of the 120 original members of his company he was one of only 7 who survived. His memoirs are considered one of the best first- person accounts of the war.

Matthew Fontaine Maury Tennessee native who is often called the Father of Oceanography (study of oceans). He eventually became head of the U.S. Naval Observatory. In 1861 he resigned from his position because of the Civil War.