1. Virginia’s Role in the Civil War Interactive Notes VS. 7bc

13. On the morning of April 12, 1861, Confederate cannons fired on the flag of the United States as it flew above Fort Sumter in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina. As the North and South prepared for the bloodiest and most tragic war ever fought by American soldiers, Virginia’s men and women took sides in the fighting.

14. The First Battle of Fort Sumter opened on 12 April 1861, when Confederate artillery fired on the Union garrison. These were the first shots of the war, and continued all day, watched by many civilians in a celebratory spirit. The fort had been cut off from its supply line, and surrendered next day. The Second Battle of Fort Sumter (8 September 1863) was a failed attempt by the Union to re-take the fort. Although the fort was reduced to rubble, it remained in Confederate hands until it was evacuated.

15. Most white Virginians supported the Confederacy. Enslaved African Americans raised crops and provided labor for the Confederacy in many different ways. Some free African Americans felt their limited rights could best be protected by supporting the Confederacy. Most American Indians, however, did not take sides during the Civil War.

16. During these four bloody years, Virginia became a major battleground between Union and Confederate troops.

18. The First Battle of Bull Run (or Manassas) was the first major battle of the Civil War.

19. First Battle of Bull Run 1 st major land battle of the Civil War Confederate Victory

20. Confederate General Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson played a key role in this battle. Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson earned his nickname when he was shot in the hand but continued to shout orders as the firing continued. Another Confederate general who was retreating with his men under the heavy Union fire called out, “Look yonder! There’s Jackson standing like a stone wall!”

22. Like Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, Robert E. Lee was a general in the Confederate army. Before the fighting started, he was asked to lead Union forces against the South but refused. Even though he was against slavery, he said, “I could take no part in an invasion of the Southern States.”

24. Lee took command of the Army of Northern Virginia and defeated Union troops at Fredericksburg, Virginia. In February 1865, he was named general-in-chief of all Confederate armies.

26. Union Army of the Potomac vs. Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia Confederate Victory The Union Army's futile frontal attacks on December 13 against entrenched Confederate defenders on the heights behind the city is remembered as one of the most one-sided battles of the American Civil War, with Union casualties more than twice as heavy as those suffered by the Confederates.

27. The Union had its share of war heroes. One such hero was Ulysses S. Grant. President Lincoln gave General Grant command of all Union troops. Near the end of the war, the Confederates evacuated Richmond, the capital of the Confederacy. Grant led the Union army into the burning city.

31. Orders to destroy all liquor; all tobacco, foodstuffs, and cotton; and weapons before the Yankees could get them. Riots occurred and Richmond’s own people set the city on fire. The Union cavalry pulled in and took the city.

32. Important battles also occurred at sea. President Lincoln used the Union navy to blockade Southern ports. A major sea battle between two ironclad ships, the Monitor (Union) and the Merrimack (Confederate), took place in Virginia waters near the present day cities of Norfolk and Hampton. He battle was fought to a draw.

34. During the Civil War, Union forces established a blockade of Confederate ports designed to prevent the export of cotton and the smuggling of war materiel into the Confederacy. The blockade was an important economic policy that successfully prevented Confederate access to weapons that the industrialized North could produce for itself.

36. The Civil War ended at Appomattox Court House, Virginia in April of 1865. Confederate General Robert E. Lee sadly surrendered his beloved Army of Northern Virginia to Union General Ulysses S. Grant. When Grant heard the artillery booming to salute the victory over Lee, he sent orders for it to stop saying, “The rebels are our countrymen again. We can best show our joy by refusing to celebrate their downfall.”