Major Civil War Battles: Use the handout to complete this activity. You may also use your textbooks.
Use the following Battles for this map activity:
Fort Sumter
Manassas
Antietam
Gettysburg
Chickamauga
Kennesaw Mountain
Sherman’s March to the Sea
Vicksburg
Atlanta Campaign
Fort Pulaski
1. For each of the battles listed above do the following:
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
Place a Dot or Star on the map to indicate the location of the battle. Use one color for Confederate
victories and another color for Union victories (include these in your key). For Sherman’s March, draw a
line of the appropriate color to trace his route instead of using a dot or star.
Label each dot/star with the name of the battle and the year it was fought.
2. Label every state shown on the map – BE NEAT! Do not write over your battle names!
3. Outline the Union states in one color and the Confederate states in another color (you may want to use the same
colors you used when labeling battles in #1, to be consistent).
Complete the following:
1. At Fort Sumter, Union Maj. ______________ surrendered to Confederate Gen. _______________ in Charleston
harbor. It marked the beginning of the ___________________ on April 12, 1861.
2. The First Battle of Manassas, also called the Battle of _______________, was the first major battle. During this battle
Thomas J. Jackson earned the nickname “___________________.”
3. The Battle of Antietam is known as the _____________________ single day of the Civil War. This Battle was also
called the Battle of ______________________.
4. The Battle of Gettysburg is known as the ________________ point in the Civil War, after which the Union became
increasingly successful.
5. Vicksburg was known as the ___________________ city that guarded the ________________________ River
between Memphis and New Orleans.
6. The Battle of Chickamauga was the ________________________ last important victory in the Civil War, and was the
2nd ______________________ battle of the war after Gettysburg.
7. The largest battle in the Atlanta Campaign occurred on June 27th at ________________________________________,
an isolated peak near Atlanta.
8. During the Atlanta Campaign, General John B. Hood replaced General ______________________. Hood evacuated
Atlanta on ______________________, 1864.
9. Sherman’s March to the Sea ended in ______________________, GA on December 21, 1864. He offered the city to
President _________________ as a ___________________ gift.
DRAW THREE IMAGES BELOW THAT DEPICT THE SOUTH’S RISE AND FALL AS THE WAR PROGRESSED
MAJOR BATTLES OF THE CIVIL WAR
FIRST BATTLE OF BULL RUN (Manassas) In July 1861, Union Gen. McDowell approached Manassas, which lay on a creek
called Bull Run. General McDowell thought he could surprise Beauregard’s forces while Union troops kept Confederate Gen.
Johnston’s forces at bay in the Shenandoah Valley. Johnston’s forces escaped and massed with Beauregard’s outside
Manassas. The two sides clashed on July 21. The Union troops launched several massive assaults, one which provided General
Thomas Jackson’s nickname “Stonewall.” The Union troops were repelled and ultimately had to flee all the way to
Washington, D.C.. After the battle, many Southerners thought the Confederacy should have marched on Washington, D.C..
instead of stopping at Manassas (who knows if the War would have ended soon after). After Manassas, many Americans
realized this war was just getting started and the Confederacy’s confidence remained high after 2 initial victories.
BATTLE OF ANTIETAM (Sharpsburg) The South, hoping to gain international recognition, wanted to win a battle in Union
territory. General Robert E. Lee and his army of Northern Virginia invade Maryland in September of 1862. Lee divided his
force as half went with Gen. Stonewall Jackson to Harper’s Ferry. Jackson was successful at Harper’s Ferry, but Gen. Lee’s
battle plan had been uncovered after Lee had left it at a campsite a few days earlier. Therefore, Union Gen. George McClellan
knew of the Confederate Plan and amassed his forces near Antietam Creek. On September 17, the Union force of 90,000
crushed the Confederate force of 40,000. Antietam would prove to be the bloodiest day of the Civil War. Lee was forced to
retreat, the Union claimed victory, and President Lincoln issued the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation on September
22, 1862
BATTLE OF VICKSBURG- In the winter of 1862-1863, Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant set out to capture Vicksburg,
Mississippi, the key city that guarded the Mississippi River from Memphis all the way to New Orleans. If he could claim
Vicksburg, the entire Western half of the Confederacy would be lost. Grant’s army struggled in the marshy terrain, but he led
a night gunboat and supply ship assault against Confederate forces that weakened their defenses. After establishing a base
south of the city, Grants troops then crossed onto dry land and laid siege to Vicksburg in mid May 1863. The Confederacy
suffered terrible food shortages and disease outbreaks as the Union blockaded Vicksburg. The Confederacy surrendered the
city on July 4, 1863, the day after they lost at Gettysburg.
BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG- In June of 1863, Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee’s army swung up the Shenandoah Valley into
Pennsylvania. The Union army countered to follow Lee and the two sides met outside the small Pennsylvania town of
Gettysburg. The battle would last for three days, July 1-July 4 and it would pit 65,000 Confederate troops against 100,000
Union troops under the command of George Meade. The first day saw more maneuvering and strategic planning. The Union
would control more of the high ground by day 3 and the Confederacy had to try something drastic to re-take the momentum.
Confederate Gen. George Pickett took his regiment up Cemetary Ridge and returned from the assault with a handful of
survivors. Confederate Gen. Jeb Stuart’s cavalry regiment was late to arrive and they too were defeated by the Union.
Gettysburg served a turning point to the war and the Confederacy could never muster another large scale offensive.
BATTLE OF CHICKAMAGUA- September 1863- Union Gen. Rosecrans descends on Chattanooga with 35,000 men.
Confederate Gen. Bragg evacuates the city and retreats with his force south into Georgia. Because of rail-line reinforcements,
Bragg’s forced swelled to 66,000 men and he crushed the left flank of the Union force, forcing them to retreat back into
Tennessee. The Battle of Chickamagua was the Confederacy’s last major victory in the Civil War.
ATLANTA CAMPAIGN- In May 1864, Gen. William Tecumseh (named for famous Creek rebel leader) Sherman and
100,000 Union troops march on Atlanta from Chattanooga. Confederate Gen. Johnston tries to get Sherman away from
Georgia’s capitol by playing a series of strategic “chess games” with the Union commander. The two armies would clash
infrequently in a series of small battles, the largest being Kennesaw Mountain on June 27. Confederate Gen. Johnston was
replaced by President Jefferson Davis because Davis felt Johnston was being to cautionary in his military strategy. Gen. John
Hood took over for Johnston and he led a full out attack against Sherman’s Union forces. Hood’s attack failed miserably and
Sherman started a rail-road siege of Atlanta by cutting off its supply lines. Confederate forces abandoned the city on Sept 1,
1864 and Sherman seized it the very next day.
MARCH TO THE SEA- Beginning on November 13, 1864, Union General Sherman marches south while sweeping a 50 mile
radius, destroying everything in his path. He gives the city of Savannah to President Lincoln at Christmas, and then moves
east to burn through South Carolina and then north into North Carolina.