Download The Civil War: Important Battles and Events

The Civil War
Important Battles & Events
Abraham Lincoln & Jefferson Davis
From Fort Sumter to the Union
Blockade of the South
►
The Union had military
bases in Charleston South
Carolina.
►
The Confederacy asked
the Union to give up their
military base (Fort
Sumter).
►
After the Union refused,
fighting began on April 12,
1861, and lasted two days.
Pictures of the Battle at Fort Sumter
Union Blockade of Southern Ports
►
After the loss at Fort
Sumter, Lincoln declared a
naval blockade
(confederate ships could
not enter or leave the
South).
►
The purpose of the
blockade was to stop
resources (weapons,
ammunition, clothing, and
food) from entering or
leaving the South.
The Battle of Antietam
September 17, 1862
►
General Robert E. Lee crosses
the Potomac River into Maryland
– looking for supplies.
►
Lee met Union General George
McClelland in Antietam (both
forces fought).
►
Took place between the
Antietam Creek & the town of
Sharpsburg, Md.
►
Battle ended in a draw, but was
also called the “Bloodiest Day of
the War” (24,000 deaths).
 More soldiers killed in this battle
than in any other American war
before…
Antietam – Bloodiest Day of the War
Emancipation Proclamation
September of 1862
►
President Lincoln issued
the Emancipation
Proclamation
 A document stating that
unless the Confederacy
surrendered, all slaves in
rebelling states would be
freed on January 1, 1863.
►
Lincoln hoped the CSA
would surrender & end the
war
The Battle of Gettysburg
July 1, 2, & 3 1863
►
General Lee needed supplies for the Confederate Army.
►
If the Confederacy could capture a major Union city, they
would have a good chance to win the war.
►
Robert E. Lee’s troops ran into George Meade’s troops in a
small Pennsylvania town called Gettysburg. (3 days of
fighting; 51,000 casualties).
►
Gettysburg was the turning point in the war; the Union
was now confident that they would win the war.
Gettysburg
Gettysburg – Little Round Top
Chickamauga
September 19 – 20, 1863
►
Union forces entered GA for the
first time after they crossed over
the border from Tennessee.
►
Union General William
Rosencrans led his troops
against Confederate General
Braxton Bragg at Chickamauga
Creek.
►
The Confederates won the
battle, but did not follow up on
the Union retreat, allowing the
Union to capture Chattanooga in
November, and set up for the
March on Atlanta.
Sherman Heads South
► 1864
brought bad times to the South,
especially Georgia
► Union General William Techumseh Sherman
launched his Atlanta Campaign
 Several battles fought from Tennessee to
Atlanta
 The Battle of Kennesaw Mtn. led to heavy Union
losses, but did not deter the Union forces
The Atlanta Campaign &
Sherman’s March to the Sea
►
Sherman’s army marched into Atlanta in September of
1865
 The soldiers looted the city and set it on fire on November 15th
►
Sherman divides his army into 2 columns and begins to
march towards Savannah
 As they move along the countryside, the Union forces torch and
destroy everything in their sight
► Known
►
as “Total War” or a “Scorched Earth Policy”
Sherman & his troops took control of Savannah in
December of 1864
The Atlanta Campaign
Sherman’s March to the Sea
Sherman’s
telegraph
to Lincoln
offering
Savannah
as a “gift”
Andersonville
► Confederate
military prison
 Housed captured Union soldiers
► Approximately
45,000 men were sent here
 Close to 13,000 died here
 Highest death rate of any Civil War prison
► Conditions
were horrible
 Overcrowded, exposure to the elements,
insects, disease and malnutrition
Andersonville
The War Ends
► April
9, 1865,
► The
courthouse in
Appomattox, VA
►
General Robert E. Lee
(CSA) surrenders to
General Ulysses S.
Grant (USA), ending 4
years of fighting.
 1,100,000 casualties
 620,000 deaths