Battles and Significant Events of the War

Fort Sumter

Fun Fact! The confederacy gave very generous terms of surrender,
 even allowing Anderson and his men to perform a 100-gun salute
 in honor of the fort before they left the next day.  The salute was cut short
because of an accidental explosion killing one gunner
and heavily wounding another.

At the start of Lincoln's presidency(1861) only four military bases in the seceded states were occupied by U.S forces. Of these four bases, Fort Sumter, located inside Charleston harbor, South Carolina, was gaining attention from the Confederacy because it was in a prime location and they knew that the troops inside the fort were slowly weakening because of the lack of supplies. Lincoln was notified of the impending doom of Fort Sumter so he had to make a critical decision whether to reinforce the fort or let the confederacy take it. Although Lincoln was advised to surrender the fort, the president decided to send the necessary supplies for the fort to last a little longer. However before the supplies even arrived the confederate leaders decided that the reinforcements being sent was a hostile act so the confederates would opt to attack the fort if the Union forces under Major Anderson did not accept the next demand for surrender. On the night of April 11, 1861 the demand was made from the confederates but Anderson did not comply, so early the next morning the attacks began and lasted for almost 40 hours. For the first hours of the attack Anderson did return fire, partially because there was simply not enough supplies to match the confederate's attack and that the Union, especially Lincoln wanted to make it clear that it was the Confederacy that began the hostilities. Finally on April 13, after suffering only damage to the walls of the fort, Anderson surrendered the fort. Even though this attack on Fort Sumter was not the first official battle of the Civil War it served a great purpose of starting off the violence to come.

First Battle of Bull Run

George McClellan who replaced McDowell as
commander of troops and later Scott as general
in chief.

The War did not officially begin until the battle of Bull Run, which wasn't far from Washington D.C., in July of 1861. An estimated 20,000 Confederate troops were gathered at Manassas Junction, Virginia when General Windfield Scott decided to send a poorly trained batch of Union soldiers under General Irvin McDowell to advance against the Confederate forces. The two armies clashed on July 21, 1861 and thus, the Civil War formally began. During the majority of the battle the Union had the upper hand until Confederate forces were sent in from Shenandoah Valley. With the help of more soldiers the Confederates were able to break the Union right flank, sending the Union soldiers into a chaotic retreat towards Washington. Thus, with the scrambled retreat, the confederacy had won this battle. The Battle of Bull Run convinced the Lincoln administration and the North that the Civil War wouldn't be as easy to win as they thought it would.

  

Shiloh

General Buell

Following fall of Forts Henry and Donelson early 1862, the commander of Confederate forces in the West was forced to retreat from Kentucky, and leave much of western and middle Tennessee. Confederate forces then began to mass at Cornith, Mississippi. On April 6, the Confederates stormed out of the woods and assailed the Union camps around Shiloh Church. General Grant and his nearly 40,000 men present for duty were equally surprised by the onslaught. Grant and his men were only stationed there because they were awaiting the arrival of a second Union army marching overland from Nashville under General Buell. When the two armies combined, they would create an unstoppable force against any rebel army in the western area thus, making it easier to secure the Mississippi River Valley .A timely arrival of reinforcements for the Union, who at this time were pressed against the Tennessee river, helped them secure the victory at this battle. The Battle of Shiloh turned out to be one of the bloodiest in the war.

Merrimack vs. Monitor

After the Battle of Shiloh naval tensions and operations increased significantly because of the Union capture of New Orleans and the unions presence in the mouth of the Mississippi River. Soon strategically located bases helped create a Union blockade off of the southern coast. However there was an alarming Confederate threat to the blockade, the Merrimack (renamed the Virginia) threatened catastrophe to entire Yankee blockading fleet. The Union's strongest ironclad, the Monitor, was sent to battle the Merrimack. The world’s first battle between steam-powered, ironclad warships ended in a draw, but its impact on the future of naval warfare would be extreme. 

Antietam

In September of 1862 Confederate General Robert E. Lee lead his fresh-from-battle troops to Maryland to attempt at isolating Washington D.C. from the north. The Army of the Potomac, under the command of George McClellan, soon reached Lee and his troops and attacked at Sharpsburg, and the bloodiest battle soon took place. After the dust had settled the death count was over 6000 and wounded over 17000. While the Battle of Antietam is considered a draw from a military point of view, Abraham Lincoln and the Union claimed victory.  This tough battle, which drove Lee’s forces away Maryland, gave Lincoln the “victory” that he needed before delivering the Emancipation Proclamation — a document that would forever change the geopolitical course of the American Civil War.

Chancellorsville

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. The campaign pitted General Lee's Confederate army of Northern Virginia against an army twice its size,  Union Army General Joseph Hooker's Army of the Potomac. In order to defeat the Union army 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. Lee once more split his forces and attacked, and this time Hooker and his men were forced to retreat across the Rappahannock River. Lee had won victory over the union army but he paid a terrible price for it. With only 60,000 men engaged, he suffered 13,303 casualties (1,665 killed, 9,081 wounded, 2,018 missing) losing some 22% of his force in the campaign—men that the Confederacy, with its limited manpower, could not replace. Also, Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, one of his most trusted generals, was mortally wounded by friendly fire during the battle. 

Vicksburg

For almost a year, Ulysses S. Grant and his army had been trying to take away the Confederate river fortress of Vicksburg, Mississippi. The only obstacle standing in their way was the unstoppable defenses at Vicksburg. Finally, one day Grant and his men crossed the river separating them from Vicksburg. After unsuccessful attempts at damaging the defenses, on May 22 Grant decided to siege the fort and the surrounding city. In May and June of 1863, Grant’s armies converged on Vicksburg, investing the city and entrapping a Confederate army under General Pemberton. On July 4, Vicksburg surrendered after the prolonged siege. The tactic Grant used is considered one of the most brilliant military campaigns of the war. With the loss of Pemberton’s army and this vital stronghold on the Mississippi, the Confederacy split in half. Grant's successes in the West boosted his reputation, leading ultimately to his appointment as General-in-Chief of the Union armies.  

Gettysburg

The Battle of Gettysburg, fought in July of 1863, is considered the most important event of the American Civil War. After the victory in Chancellorsville, Lee and his men reached Gettysburg, Pennsylvania in late jun of 1863 to put Lee's plan of an all-out invasion of the Northeast into action.On July 1, the advancing Confederates clashed with the Union's Army of the Potomac, commanded by General Meade, at the crossroads town of Gettysburg.  On July 3, Lee ordered an attack by fewer than 15,000 troops on the enemy's center at Cemetery Ridge. This assault eventually failed forcing Lee and his men toward Virginia a day later. Lee's plan to invade the North fell apart after the Union's victory at Gettysburg. Four months after the battle, President Lincoln used the dedication ceremony for Gettysburg's Soldiers National Cemetery to honor the fallen Union soldiers and redefine the purpose of the war in his historic Gettysburg Address.  

Sherman’s March

Appomattox Courthouse

Civil War Medicine

During the 1860s, doctors had yet to develop bacteriology and were generally ignorant of the causes of disease. Generally, Civil War doctors went to only two years of medical school, though some pursued more education. Most Civil War surgeons had never treated a gun shot wound and many had never performed surgery. For the most part, the Civil War doctor (as understaffed, under qualified, and under-supplied as he was) did the best he could, with what he was given. Some 10,000 surgeons served in the Union army and about 4,000 served in the Confederate. Medicine made significant gains during the course of the war. Although, medical knowledge of the 1860s had not yet discovered the use of sterile dressings, antiseptic surgery, and the recognition of the importance of sanitation and hygiene. As a result, thousands died from diseases such as typhoid or dysentery. One of the main struggles of a surgeon is when a soldier is shot in the leg or arm and that limb must be amputated. So here is a video kind of explaining what was going on in the operating room when this was happening: 

Battle Technology/Tactics

Life as a Soldier

A letter from a soldier to his family on
thanksgiving day almost 200 years ago 

Life during this time life was difficult and for the thousands of young Americans who left home to fight for their cause, it was an experience none of them would ever forget. The soldiers often spent many months away from home with an inadequate amount of food or shelter while doing such things as intensive drill routines, and marching on hot dusty roads or in a heavy rainstorm. The rest of a soldiers camp time was spent as long stretches of boredom. However the Civil War was the first time soldiers on the battlefield were able to send letters to their family and friends. through the letters they could check-in with their family, give them news of the war and even say goodbye before their impending death. Saying good bye in the letters was a very common topic among soldiers sending letters. Death loomed over every single soldier on the battle field because there were so many casualties every battle. It was found that during the Civil War a soldier was 5 times more likely to die than a civilian. Here I urge you to watch this touching short film about how death was right behind every sldier on the battlefield: