Download Major Civil War Battles

Major Civil War battles for History 2111
Western
Theater
Name
Date
Page 1 of 2
Eastern
Theater
Key Point
Name
Date
Key Point
First major battle of the war; shows that
war will likely be long and bloody,
First Bull Run
July 1861
proving wrong both sides' expectations
(First Mansassas)
of a quick victory
Ulysses S. Grant makes a name for
Forts Henry
and
early 1862 himself; U.S. gains control of Tennessee
and Cumberland Rivers
Donelson
More American casualties in this battle
Spring than in all previous wars combined-Shiloh
shocks country and presages a bloody war
1862
Attempt to capture Richmond; Robert
E. Lee takes command of the Army of
Northern Virginia
Lee's first offensive saves Richmond
The Seven Days June 1862
and changes the course of the war
Lee's first invasion of North fails;
Antietam September England withholds recognition of the
(Sharpsburg) 1862 Confederacy; Lincoln prompted to
issue Emancipation Proclamation
Peninsula
Campaign
Spring
1862
Lee's greatest tactical victory, but
Stonewall Jackson killed (a major blow
Chancellorsville
to Confederate leadership)
Lee's second invasion of the North
fails; heart of Lee's army destroyed and
Gettysburg July 1863 cannot be replaced; from here on, Lee
will always be on the defensive
Spring
1863
"Anaconda Plan" encirclement complete:
Summer Confederacy cut in half
Vicksburg 1863
Blue: Union Victory
Gray: Confederate Victory
Orange: It's complicated
Major Civil War battles for History 2111
Page 2 of 2
Confederacy's major east-west rail
connection lost to the Union; Northern
Chattanooga
Fall 1863 capture of Chattanooga opens the way for
Campaign
invasion of the Lower South
The Overland
Campaign:
Spring/ a terribly bloody series of battles in
summer which Grant endeavors to bleed Lee's
army to death
1864
The Wilderness
Spotsylvania
Court House
Cold Harbor
Atlanta
Confederacy's ramaining east-west rail hub
falls to Union; Lincoln's re-election
September
assured
1864
Richmond–
Petersburg
Campaign
Lee defends Richmond by holding
June 1864- Petersburg for nine months before his
March army is overwhelmed by Grant's and
attempts to escape to the west and join
1865
Johnston's army
Beginnings of modern total war (use of
military force against industry,
Sherman's
Fall 1864infrastructure, and civilians (including
March
Spring
civilian psyche and morale); shows that
(Georgia and
1865
the Confederacy can no longer resist
Carolinas)
Union force
Lee's march to join Johnston is cut off
when Grant surrounds him; Lee
Appomattox
surrenders the Army of Northern
April 1865
Virginia on 9 April; all other
Court House
Confederate land forces surrender by
the end of June
Blue: Union Victory
Gray: Confederate Victory
Orange: It's complicated