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Battle Stations - Civil War
Battle of Fort Sumter
April 12, 1861
Battle of Fort Sumter
Date
Friday, April 12, 1861
Weather
~63° F, mostly cloudy
Location
Fort Sumter, Charleston Harbor, South Carolina
Union Forces
Commanders Major Robert Anderson
Casualties
Force: 85
Killed: 2
Wounded: 9
Captured: 0
Confederate Forces
General P.G.T. Beauregard
Force: 500
Killed: 0
Wounded: 4
Captured: 0
Battle of Fort Sumter
Fort Sumter was a federal fort in the harbor at Charleston, South Carolina, a state which
had seceded from the Union and joined the Confederacy. President Lincoln informed
Governor Francis Wilkinson Pickens of South Carolina of his intention to resupply the fort.
Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederacy, decided that the fort must not be resupplied
and ordered its capture.
Confederate General Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard ordered the bombardment of
Fort Sumter early in the morning of April 12, 1861. The cannons fired for two days while
Union forces held out. Major Robert Anderson, the Union commander of the fort, was short
of ammunition, food, and men. Unable to prevent the fort’s capture, he was forced to
surrender the fort on April 14. The news of Fort Sumter’s capture caused Lincoln to call for
75,000 volunteers to retake federal property. Virginia, Arkansas, North Carolina, and
Tennessee promptly seceded and joined the Confederacy. The country was at war.
First Battle of Bull Run
July 21, 1861
First Battle of Bull Run
Date
Sunday, July 21, 1861
Weather
~90° F, sunny and humid
Location
Manassas, Virginia
Commanders
Casualties
Union Forces
Confederate Forces
Brigadier General Irvin
McDowell
Joseph E. Johnston
General P.G.T. Beauregard
Force: 28,00 – 35,000
Force: 32,000 - 34,000
Killed: 460
Wounded: 1,124
Captured: 1,312
Killed: 387
Wounded: 1,682
Captured: 13
First Battle of Bull Run
Citizens in both the Union and the Confederacy thought the war would be short and
swift with few casualties. Young men on both sides were eager to volunteer to fight.
They were afraid they would miss the entire war if they did not enlist right away. The
Confederates wanted another quick victory to boost Southern morale and convince
the North to make peace. The Union commander, General Irvin McDowell, wanted to
get his men into battle before their 90-day enlistment period was up.
On the morning of July 21, 1861, McDowell attacked the Southern fortifications at
Manassas Junction in Virginia. Union troops were poorly trained and lightly
equipped. They expected an easy victory. Ladies and gentlemen in buggies,
children, Congressmen, reporters, and other civilians (often carrying picnic lunches)
followed the army to watch the battle. The battle was a confusion of small fights and
inexperienced combat on both sides. The Northern forces were routed and forced to
retreat right through the ranks of the civilian spectators. It was a serious defeat for
the North and an indication that this war would not be easy.
Battle of Antietam
September 1862
Battle of Antietam
Date
Sunday, September 17, 1862
Weather
~73° F, foggy and damp in the morning, clearing with a light
wind later in the day
Location
Antietam Creek near Sharpsburg, Maryland
Commanders
Casualties
Union Forces
Confederate Forces
Major General John B.
McClellan
General Robert E. Lee
Force: 95,000
Force: 18,000
Killed: 12,401
Wounded: 9,540
Captured: 753
Killed: 1,546
Wounded: 7,752
Captured: 1,018
Battle of Antietam
By 1862, the Confederate army had begun an attempt to gain territory in the North.
Part of this operation was called the Maryland Campaign. The Confederate army had
won a series of battles and was looking to extend itself further into the North. In order
to accomplish this goal, they had to secure supply routes from the South into the
North. Maryland was a border state and, although it was located in the North, was still
a slave-holding state and its citizens were divided in their loyalty to the Union and
Confederate states.
In September 1862, General Robert E. Lee marched his troops into Maryland hoping
to achieve a Confederate victory and gain British recognition of the Confederate States
of America as a nation. On September 17, 1862, Lee’s 18,000 troops, backed up
against Antietam Creek near the town of Sharpsburg, were attacked by some of
McClellan’s 95,000 Union troops. The attack was poorly designed and disorganized,
but the fighting was bloody. Union forces were unable to defeat or destroy the Army of
Northern Virginia, but they did halt its advance into the North. This was the single
bloodiest day of the war with over 23,000 casualties. After the battle, President Lincoln
issued the Emancipation Proclamation which freed all of the slaves held in the
Confederate states.
Siege of Vicksburg
May-July 1863
Siege of Vicksburg
Date
May 18, 1863 – July 4, 1863
Weather
~90° F, hot and humid
Location
Vicksburg, Warren County, Mississippi
Commanders
Casualties
Union Forces
Confederate Forces
Major General Ulysses S.
Grant
Lt. General John C. Pemberton
Force: 77,000
Force: 40,000
Killed or Wounded: 10,142 Killed or Wounded: 9,091
Captured: 302
Captured: 29,495
Siege of Vicksburg
Vicksburg, Mississippi was the last Southern stronghold on the Mississippi River.
General Ulysses S. Grant was determined to take the city and cut the Confederacy in
half. Despite the destruction of much of his supply line by Confederate forces, Grant
marched his men over 180 miles in 17 days, fought five major battles, and
surrounded the city.
There were not enough Union troops to completely surround the city, so Grant used
his troops to cut off supplies to the city and isolate it from any help the Confederacy
might want to offer it. With support from Union naval ships, Grant’s artillery pounded
the city. So many houses in Vicksburg were destroyed that civilians began living in
caves they dug out of the hills inside the city. This led Union soldiers to start calling
Vicksburg “Prairie Dog Village”.
On July 4, 1863, Vicksburg finally surrendered. By this time, its weary citizens and
defending army were both starving. Control of this city gave the Union forces control
of the Mississippi River. As a result of this victory, it was nearly 80 years before the
city of Vicksburg, Mississippi celebrated Independence Day.
Battle of Gettysburg
July 1863
Battle of Gettysburg
Date
July 1, 1863 – July 3, 1863
Weather
~85° F, cloudy and humid with thunderstorms in the area
Location
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
Commanders
Casualties
Union Forces
Confederate Forces
Major General George G.
Meade
General Robert E. Lee
Force: 93,921
Force: 71,699
Killed: 3,155
Wounded: 14,531
Killed: 4,708
Wounded: 12,693
Captured: 5,830
Captured: 5,369
Battle of Gettysburg
Hoping to bring the war to an end, Confederate General Robert E. Lee decided to
invade the North again and take advantage of the war weariness of Union citizens.
Confederate and Union forces clashed by accident at Gettysburg, a small town in
Pennsylvania.
During three days of brutal warfare, Lee tried to destroy the Union armies and convince
the North to accept the division of the country. Fighting with fewer men, less supplies,
and unable to secure a military advantage on the ground, Lee’s army was halted and
defeated by Union forces.
On the final day of the attack, a charge led by Confederate General George Pickett’s
troops failed. Lee was forced to retreat back to Virginia, having lost about one third of
his forces. Union dead and wounded numbered over 20,000.
On November 19, 1863, four and a half months after the battle, President Lincoln gave a
speech at Gettysburg as part of a ceremony dedicating a cemetery for the soldiers who
died in the battle. This speech, which has come to known as the Gettysburg Address, is
considered to be one of the greatest speeches in American history. It reminded people of
the ideals in the Declaration of Independence and called for a “new birth of freedom” for
all Americans.
Battle of Atlanta
July 1864
Battle of Atlanta
Date
July 22, 1864
Weather
~90° F, hot and humid
Location
Atlanta, Georgia
Commanders
Casualties
Union Forces
Confederate Forces
William T. Sherman
James B. McPherson
John Bell Hood
Joseph E. Johnston
Force: 100,000
Force: 51,000
Killed: 500
Wounded: 2,141
Killed: 2,482
Wounded: 4,000
Captured:2,017
Captured: 1,000
Battle of Atlanta
On July 22, 1864, Union General William Sherman laid siege to the city of Atlanta,
Georgia, with the intent of breaking the back of the Confederacy. In six weeks of bitter
fighting, the Union forces gradually surrounded the city of Atlanta and wore down the
defending Confederate army. The Confederate army was barely able to escape before
Sherman’s troops completely surrounded the city in late August.
On September 2, 1864, Sherman entered Atlanta. The defeat of Atlanta convinced the
war-weary North that the end of the war was in sight and also led to the reelection of
President Lincoln in November.
After taking Atlanta, General Sherman took 62,000 men and marched across Georgia to
the sea. He was determined to destroy the South’s ability to wage war and feed her
armies. He created a path of destruction as wide as 60 miles, and destroyed at least 100
million dollars in property. The army captured food, freed slaves, destroyed railroad lines,
and burned many farms. Sherman’s army captured Savannah, Georgia on December 21,
1864 which he offered to President Lincoln as a Christmas gift.
Battle of Appomattox Court House
April 9, 1865
Battle of Appomattox Court House
Date
Sunday, April 9, 1865
Weather
~°65 F, Sunny
Location
Appomattox Court House, Virginia
Commanders
Casualties
Union Forces
Confederate Forces
Lt. General Ulysses S.
Grant
General Robert E. Lee
Force: 100,000
Force: 57,829
Killed or Wounded: 8,628
Killed or Wounded: 29, 578
Captured: 28,251
Captured: 0
Battle of Appomattox Court House
After the Confederate capital city of Richmond, Virginia was captured by Union forces,
Confederate General Robert E. Lee attempted to link up with other Southern armies, but
he was halted by Union cavalry at Appomattox Station in Virginia. Lee determined that his
men no longer had any serious hope of victory. They were out of food, short of
ammunition, and their numbers were terribly reduced by long years of fighting.
Union General Ulysses Grant accepted Lee’s surrender at the home of Wilmer McLean in
the town of Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865. Grant was generous in his
surrender terms. He allowed the Confederate officers and men to return to their homes
and offered food to the half-starved rebel army. The formal surrender of the troops
occurred three days later. The war was over, although some minor clashes still occurred in
the next few weeks.
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