Major Events

Fort Sumter is located in South Carolina. Because it was a federal fort with federal soldiers, Lincoln refused to surrender the fort to the seceded South Carolina. 

So on April 12, 1861, Confederate forces fired at the fort-starting the Civil War. Ultimately the fort is surrendered to the Confederacy.

 Not an official battle (nobody dies, except one horse). 

On April 15, 1861, Lincoln asked each state to provide 75,000 militia to help suppress the rebellion. In reaction to this, FOUR more states join the Confederacy.

In an effort to hurt the Confederacy economically and practically...Lincoln ordered a naval blockade that he hoped would: 

-prevent southerners from receiving supplies from Europe,

-block them from exporting cotton

-keep them from creating a Confederate navy. 

This so called “Anaconda Plan” was a success.

Watch this video here!

D.C. and the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia were only a short distance from each other. The Union figured...if we could just capture the Confederate capital we could put this little war to an end. SO in July 1861, a Union army of 30,000 marched towards Richmond to capture it. 

HOWEVER they were stopped, defeated, and forced to retreat before they even got there at a place called Manassas...in a battle called “Bull Run” Confederate General “Stonewall” Jackson becomes a hero amongst the men here in showing incredible bravery...after all..the Union soldiers outnumbered the Confederates here...and they still won!! 

Lincoln ordered the assembly of 100,000 highly trained men. 

After the Battle of Bull Run, Lincoln ordered the general to assemble a highly trained army of 100,000 men. For the next year the North and South would try to outwit the other. Finally at the Second Battle of Bull Run, in August of 1862, the South crushed the Union’s army, sending them into retreat. Lee had now determined that it was time to take the war to the North.

Watch this video here.

In September of 1862, Confederate leaders decided the best way to end the war was to invade the north. They invaded Maryland and the Union fought at Antietam. This battle would become the bloodiest SINGLE DAY BATTLE of the Civil War in American History because in just one day of fighting 23,000 soldiers were killed. Confederates retreated.

5 days later-Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation that freed slaves in Rebel states. 

“On the first day of January, 1863, all persons held as slaves within any State or part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be forever free; and the Executive Government of the United States, including the military and naval authority, will recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons, and will do no act to repress such persons, from their actual freedom.”  

Sept 22 1862

The Emancipation Proclamation:

-frees slaves in rebel states only

-technically has no authority in the Confederacy

-wanted to make certain the South would get no foreign allies

In March 1863, the US government passed a “draft” law requiring men to serve in the Union army. The draft was unpopular among many Northerners.

In July 1863, draft riots broke out in New York City, protesting the law.

Angry mobs attacked abolitionists and an African-American children’s orphanage in NYC.

Many rioters blamed African Americans for the draft.

As months rolled on and the number of dead continued to increase, a group of northern Democrats began speaking out against the war.

They called themselves, Peace Democrats...their enemies called them Copperheads.

Many Copperheads were midwesterners who sympathized with the South and opposed abolition. They didn’t believe in the war to begin with  wanted to see it end.

Because Lincoln feared the message of the Copperheads he suspended the right of habeas corpus. (constitutional protection against unlawful imprisonment.

Ignoring this protection, Union officials jailed their enemies without evidence or trial. No surprise this angered many Democrats and some Republicans as well.

Day 1 of the Battle began July 1st when the Confederate raiding party ran into Union forces and began exchanging fire. Both parties split to take up new positions and prepared for combat the next day.

Day 2 of the Battle began July 2nd. Both sides were trying to take strong positions, forcing the other to retreat. 

By days end, the Union held the upper hand.

Day 3 of the Battle began July 3rd. This would be the beginning of the end for the South. Lee would not give up-he pushed harder against the North. As the day progressed, it seemed the Confederacy had done serious damage to the Union, and so they charged. In late afternoon, nearly 15,000 men took part in Pickett’s Charge. For one mile, the Confederates marched slowly towards the Union’s center---where they would be showered with cannon and rifle fire. The Confederates would retreat and would not be followed---which angered Lincoln.

This battle was the turning point of the war because Confederate forces would never again be able to go on the offensive against the North.

The infamous Pickett’s Charge occurred on the last day of fighting when Confederate forces of 15,000 charged Union forces of 6500.

Because they were completely exposed to fire for ¾ of a mile---the Confederate casualties were 6,000 plus, to Union casualties of 1,500.

May 1863, begins siege of  Vicksburg Mississippi. Ulysses S. Grant and Union surround it, and shells it. The purpose: trap the Confederate Army.

For 47 days, Union forces trapped the city of Vicksburg, cutting it off from all outside supplies in order to force it to surrender.

Faced with starvation because of the siege, Vicksburg residents had been forced to eat rats, shoe leather, and weeds. The constant hammering of Union siege artillery drove many of the citizens of Vicksburg into caves dug into the hillsides. 

After 47 days of siege General Grant and General Pemberton agreed to meet on July 3, 1863.

It was then decided that the Confederates would surrender the following day, July 4th, 1863.

Grant immediately sent food to the soldiers and civilians.

Union Victory: July 4 1863--the Confederacy was split and the  Union gains control of the Mississippi River belonged to the Union

ps. Because the city of Vicksburg was so bitter with the loss, it would 80 years before the city of Vicksburg celebrated Independence Day again-1945.

Lincoln discussed the importance of keeping the Union together, and how the lives lost should not go in vain.

"The radical aspect of the speech, however, began with Lincoln’s assertion that the Declaration of Independence–and not the Constitution–was the true expression of the founding fathers’ intentions for their new nation. At that time, many white slave owners had declared themselves to be “true” Americans, pointing to the fact that the Constitution did not prohibit slavery; according to Lincoln, the nation formed in 1776 was “dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.” In an interpretation that was radical at the time–but is now taken for granted–Lincoln’s historic address redefined the Civil War as a struggle not just for the Union, but also for the principle of human equality."

Listen to President Obama recreate the famous speech here.

After Grant’s victory at Vicksburg, he was put in charge of all the Union forces. His next plan was to continue to split up with south. 

He put William T Sherman in charge of an army that would march from Atlanta, Georgia to Savannah, Georgia, up through South Carolina-and into Virginia---literally destroying everything in their path---telegraph lines, railroad tracks, burning down homes, farms, and businesses.  

As 1864 approached, Lincoln’s chances for reelection appeared uncertain.

Since Andrew Jackson, no President had been re-elected for a second term.

Lincoln had become subject to widespread criticism for his handling of the war. Union armies had suffered a long string of losses, and many blamed these failures on Lincoln’s strategy. Other voters in the North were outraged by the Emancipation Proclamation, claiming it went too far.

Lincoln’s main opponent had been commander of the Union army at Antietam, McClellan.

During the campaign, Republicans accused Democrats of disloyalty. Republican newspapers and speakers charged Democrats with wishing to preserve slavery just when the North seemed to be on the verge of victory.

Lincoln is re-elected. The focus of his Second Inaugural Address was not on the nature of the Union, but on the sin of slavery.

Southern slave owners, Lincoln declared, had been willing to make war on the Union rather than to give up their slaves!

The heavy costs of the war, Lincoln believed, were God’s punishment on both the North and the South for centuries of slavery---”every drop of blood drawn from the lash shall be paid by another drawn from the sword.”

The devastation caused by the Union armies in the South caused many Confederates to lose hope.

General Lee’s army slowly dwindled.

By late 1864, half of his soldiers had deserted to return home to protect their families.

In April 1865, Richmond, the capital of the Confederacy, fell to Union armies. A few days later, Lee met Grant at Appomattox Court House, Virginia.

Under the terms of the agreement, the officers and men of Lee’s army surrendered and were pardoned. All Confederate arms were collected by Union troops as captured property.

Both generals signed the document of surrender.

The war was finally over.